


Agents

by orphan_account



Category: Smallville
Genre: AU, Crime, Drama, F/M, Romance, Suspense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-10
Updated: 2016-06-10
Packaged: 2018-07-14 06:45:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 40,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7158020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU/ Chloe and Lex meet again after 10 years. He thought she was killed, but instead, Chloe was recruited by the CIA and now is an agent.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

PROLOG

Lex Luthor walked over to his desk while sipping another glass of his expensive scotch.

He sat down in his comfortable chair and looked into the fire that was cracking in the fireplace. Then he put the glass down on his desk and hid his face in his hands.

What should he do? What was he supposed to do?

What did he really want?

He sighed heavily while thinking about Chloe Sullivan. The small and inconspicuous, but in the same time witty and brave blonde high school reporter.

He still couldn't figure out what it was about that girl that was pulling him towards her, attracting him. He'd thought he'd experienced everything when it came to men and women's relations. He'd been in love, he'd even gotten married twice. He'd thought he'd known everything there was to know and after Helen had deceived him, he'd given up on love for good, satisfying his needs while sleeping with a countless number of brunettes. The problem was that with time he'd gotten bored.

Then Chloe Sullivan had entered the picture while asking him for help and it'd seemed to change everything. Suddenly, he'd felt alive again, ecstatic, on fire once more. And he'd started to wonder if he'd ever felt that way towards anyone before. Sure, Chloe was in high school, but she was graduating this year and there would be no valid reason for him as not to actually pursue her.

There was only one problem – his father.

Chloe was a witness now as she was about to take Lionel down and put him in prison for good. She was the only one who could do that and her safety had to come first.

Yes, Lex could tell her that he would like them to be more than just friends, but he was hesitant. He didn't want her to feel obligated if she rejected him. He didn't want her to feel like she owed his something for protecting her from his father.

He was Lex Luthor, not some horny teenager, he could wait. There was no rush. He'd gotten burnt and used by the opposite sex so many times by now that he had no intention to rush, even though he knew Chloe was different than all the others.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chloe Sullivan vigorously rubbed her eyes as she was working too hard.

She was sitting in her Torch office, probably being the very last person in the building at such a late hour, and working on her next article. Added to that, she was constantly afraid that something might happen to her. She'd even had a fight with Lex earlier on about her walking around without protection. Chloe remembered how she'd told him that she could take care of herself, but she knew those were just empty words. She needed him and he needed her, so she decided that she would agree to some discreet bodyguard. It was very early and no one important knew about what she and Lex were planning to do, but still, Lionel's resourcefulness had no boundaries. He'd proven that to her before, so she shouldn't expect anything less from him now.

The other reason to why she was such a mess were her feelings. She was going to be the key witness in Lionel Luthor's trial, she had the last year of school on her mind, the Torch, her exams… and added to all of that she was consumed by her feelings towards Lex.

It was wrong, she tried telling herself. She'd come to him for help, not for affection, but she couldn't help thinking about him in that special way. What more, she was pretty sure he was getting more and more interested in her as well. She could notice that in his eyes. There'd always been a special bond between them, some intimacy that only they alone could share. It was that way ever since their first meeting and it'd only deepened later on. They hadn't been spending too much time together, but their encounters had always been meaningful and full of strange, unexplained tension. She could still remember how she'd gotten infected in one of LuthorCorp's facilities and obtained the power to make people tell her the truth to every question possible. The way Lex had confessed to her that he only wanted his father to love him had shattered her somehow. That very moment she'd felt like one tiny piece of her soul had escaped, had been separated from her and wandered towards Lex. It was silly, she knew that, but it felt like it. She'd never been able to look at him the same way again. Now she saw a human, not a monster.

With another sigh she stood up and picked all her things up from the desk, then she thrust them into her bag and left the school premises.

She decided to agree to Lex's proposal and let him hire a bodyguard.

She wasn't safe anymore.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, two big men in black suits appeared right in front of her.

She didn't even manage to scream since her voice got somehow stuck in her tightened throat.

Oh, no, she thought, no, please! Let them not be Lionel's people! I want to live! I want… I want to see Lex again…

She thought about his cold blue-grey eyes which seemed to be lightening up with a warm glow only when she was around. She thought about the way he looked at her, how he talked to her… their famous word sparing…

"Chloe Sullivan?" one of the men asked.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lex was driving so fast that it was a miracle he reached the LuthorCorp's building without an accident.

He parked the car on the sidewalk, jumped out of his vehicle and after having slammed the door shut, he ran towards the door.

"Mr. Luthor, I have to take your car to…" the valet started, but Lex just chose to ignore him. "Mr. Luthor, your keys! You can't park here!"

"I can park wherever the fuck I want!" Lex snapped at him without giving him a second glance and then he finally found himself inside his father's company.

Disbelief.

Pain.

Agony.

Guilt.

It was how he felt. One feeling came and soon was replaced by another. Like a flood.

He failed her.

Failed her.

He had no idea how to live from now on, how to cope with that fact. No idea what to do next.

He was confused and hurt, never had truly felt that way before. He'd lost a few women in his life, but it was never like this. He'd felt deceived by them back then, his heartbreaks not seeming that much important than the stinging betrayals and now…

Now he didn't know what to do, what to think. He was torn between the horrible, agonizing pain in his heart and that guilt he felt.

Why had he listened to her? Why hadn't he just hired a bodyguard, after all? She would've never even known! Lex's bodyguards could be discreet!

But it wasn't only his fault. He wasn't the one responsible, after all.

They didn't know who did it. There was no evidence that would point towards his father. No evidence at all.

And Chloe Sullivan was dead.

Along with her father.

Lex finally reached the top floor and strode right into Lionel's office.

The younger Luthor pushed the door open so hard that it slammed against the wall and then he got to his father who was sitting behind his desk.

"Lex, what…?" Lionel started, completely baffled, but before he could say something more Lex grabbed the front of his jacket and forced him to stand up.

"WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO HER?! WHY?!" he roared when shaking his father like he was a rag doll.

"Lex… Lex, calm down…" Lionel started, clearly terrified. "Are you having another breakdown? Remember when in BelleReve…"

"I'M TALKING ABOUT CHLOE! CHLOE SULLIVAN! DOES THAT NAME RING A BELL?!"

"Son… what happened?" Lionel asked, even more bewildered now.

"She's… dead! Dead! And you killed her! You killed her father, too!" Lex's voice faltered and Lionel could hear the despair in it clearly.

Lex took his hands off his father after shaking him one last time and then he turned round, his face contorted in pain, tears appearing in his eyes. His whole body was trembling. Once he said those words out loud, they really sank in and the reality hit him even harder, causing him to lose his ground completely.

She was really dead.

And he couldn't save her.

All because he'd wanted to respect her decision. He'd listened to her instead of his instinct.

"Ms Sullivan is dead? I had no idea… Why do you think I killed her? And what is more important, were you two close? Is she… was she even legal?" Lionel dared ask.

Lex wanted to snap his father's neck like a twig right there and then.

He took a deep breath instead and said, "Don't play innocent with me. You had to somehow find out... You had to…" He didn't turn back to face him again though.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, son and quite frankly, such infatuation is just humiliating. How old was she exactly?"

Lex took a swing and hit his father straight in the face. "You killed her!"

"Mr. Luthor!" In the very same moment the guards came in and pulled him away from his father who was wiping the blood off his mouth.

"You killed her! You'll pay for that! You'll rot in jail!" Lex kept screaming at him while the armed men were escorting him out of the office.

In the end, Lionel didn't pay. At least not the way Lex intended him to.

And Chloe and Gabe Sullivan's killer was never really found.

Lex spent the entire next year trying to prove that his father was guilty. It was all fruitless though, but not even for a moment did he doubt that it was all Lionel's doing.

It had to be him.

Then, surprisingly, Lionel was sentenced to life in prison, but not for the murder of Chloe and Gabe Sullivan. He was sentenced for his past crimes. The trial was secret and no one was allowed in, not even Lex, which actually surprised the younger Luthor. Who found enough evidence to sentence Lionel? Who needed to be so discreet as not to even tell the truth to Lionel's only living son?

The answer was only one: the government.

Only it also meant that it had nothing to do with Chloe.

Chloe was just dead.

A couple of years later his father died in prison because of his liver disease and Lex was left completely alone. Broken. Immersed into his business, immersed into running the LexCorp as not to be able to have any time to think about his painful past.

He'd never met anyone who could measure up to Chloe and he was sure he never would.


	2. Chapter 2

PART 1

Chapter 1

10 years later

"What the fuck is she doing?!"

"Watchtower!" Chloe's outburst was immediately followed by her handler's reprimand.

"I'm sorry, sir, but Raven got the wrong hall. Just look!" Chloe, still exasperated, handed Carter her tablet. It showed the blueprints of the building where they'd been notified was the bomb.

"Shit!" Carter cursed as well. "How much time do we have?" he asked.

"Not enough. She'll never get to the bomb in time to disarm it, sir," another agent replied.

"Raven! Raven! Do you hear me?! Over!" Carted yelled, but there was just silence on the other side. "What did she do with her earphone?! Why can't she hear me?!"

"I told you that it was a horrible idea to send her on this mission instead of me!" Chloe huffed and then stood up, taking a bulletproof vest and her gun.

"And what do you think you're doing? We'll just evacuate the building. It'll be a waste, but fortunately for us, it's not some important old monument." Carted stopped her.

"I will not let her die like this. This is just stupid," Chloe voiced her opinion.

"She'll get out with the rest of the people!"

"No, she won't. She'll try to get to the bomb anyway. You know her quick temper."

Carted just sighed heavily in response. "All right, go on. Just… don't get killed," he told her.

"I won't," Chloe grinned at him, but it was a rather false smile, just to make them all feel better. Then she grabbed the handle of the door and was outside in no time, walking briskly to the back door of the building.

She knew that the day Lana Lang had become an agent was the day of her own personal doom. Had no one actually seen that she wouldn't make for a good one? Yet, Chloe knew exactly why her friend had been recruited. Lana had an exceptional gift when it came to undercover missions. Her tasks usually were to seduce the target at some party. It was very rarely that sleeping with a target came into the picture, but sometimes it was a necessary evil and Lana had proven herself to be the best.

Watchtower was already inside the building and then she started running when looking at the blueprints. This had to be the hall Lana AKA Raven had wandered into.

Perfect, she'll just get me killed! Why do I always feel responsible for her?! It's not my fault that she joined CIA! Chloe thought.

None of it would've happened if only Lana hadn't bumped into the blonde while she'd been on a secret mission five years ago. Chloe had already been a respectful and very successful agent back then and she'd been hoping for some promotion after that particular job when… boom, everything had seemed to be ruined once Lana had suddenly yelled, "Oh my GOD! Oh… my… God! Chloe! CHLOE! I thought you were dead! How come you're alive?!"

If only she hadn't said those words about Chloe being presumably dead…

The mission had been risky enough and then, when Lana had spoken, Chloe had known she wouldn't be able to pretend that the brunette had confused her with somebody else. She'd known that her cover had been blown and that she'd had to run and she'd had to do it fast. Plus – she'd had to save Lana's ass in the process. That was how it'd all begun.

When you crossed paths with CIA or, even worse, recognized some of their agents, blew some covers when almost getting an agent killed while you were facing a new threat of being killed yourself, there were truly only two options: witness protection program or… recruitment.

It was still a mystery to Chloe why Lana had actually chosen the second option. Knowing her friend from the times in Smallville, Watchtower would say that Lana would definitely choose the first one. She just was the kind of a girl who would welcome a opportunity for a new life, new name and new friends with open arms.

But it hadn't happened.

And it'd screwed Chloe over completely. Now she felt responsible for Raven like it was her damn fault that her friend had been dragged into this mess!

Now Lana wanted to play a real agent and after a few years of training, psycho-evaluation and hundreds of simulation, she was finally allowed to.

Wrong. Chloe huffed and speeded up a little bit.

How much time did she have before the bomb went off anyway? And what was wrong with the connection? Had Lana even turned it on in the first place? Chloe wouldn't be surprised if the brunette hadn't, especially since her friend had been so giddy and excited about her first real mission. Like seducing a guy wasn't a real one! It was what Raven was good at, so the CIA should tell her to just stick with it! But no, the times were hard, they didn't have enough recruitments and there were too many bad guys out there. The bomb was connected to one of the most wanted and that was the only reason CIA was taking care of it.

"La… Raven!" Chloe yelled, quickly switching to Lana's codename. It was the protocol, after all. "RAVEN!" She finally got to the end of the corridor and noticed some silhouette. "Raven?"

"Chl… Watchtower?" she heard in response. "Something's wrong…" Lana was clearly terrified. "I lost my way… my PDA isn't working… I couldn't hear any of you and I can bet you didn't hear me…"

"Well, yeah. That's the problem. Come on! The bomb will go off soon!" Chloe took her arm and pulled her towards the exit.

"But… we were suppo…" Lana started.

"There's no time! You failed!" Watchtower snapped at her and that shut Lana up.

Suddenly, the blonde felt sorry for her friend. It seemed not to be entirely Raven's fault. There was some technical malfunction in her gear and she'd taken the wrong turn, probably thinking she could tell from memory where to go…

An agent has to have a perfect memory, Chloe sighed when remembering that particular rule.

"Come on! Faster!"

They were speeding as fast as they could, Lana following Chloe since she had no idea where the exit was.

"Oh, no! Lana! Come on!" Chloe squealed while glancing at the counter on her wrist. "We have... seconds!"

They jumped out of the building in the exact moment the bomb went off and after a few fast lapses, they were thrown into the air and finally, they hit the ground, landing on a grass. Still, Chloe felt like she'd just been hit by a truck. Her whole body was in pain, she had dust in her eyes, her head was pounding violently and she was pretty sure she lost her hearing there for a moment.

And then, once it slowly came back, the first thing she heard was Lana's moan.

Good, that meant they were both alive, after all.

Chloe took a deep breath and forced herself to sit up.

"Are you ok?!" she heard some voices from the distance and soon those people were right by their side, touching them, so they could check if anything was broken or hurt.

"You're fine," Carter sighed with relief. "Except that gush on your cheek, Watchtower. It must've happened when you fell."

Chloe blindly raised her hand to her cheek to find blood there. She couldn't tell what the wound looked like, but it was stinging like hell.

"Raven?" she asked to her right where she knew Lana had landed. "Are you ok?"

"Ye… yes…" Lana squealed, avoiding her eyes. "I'm sorry… I…"

"Show me that…" A technician took a small device out of her ear. "It broke down. I'm sorry. I don't know how it happened."

"You better make sure it won't happen the next time! Our agents' lives depend on it!" Carter snapped at him.

"I was trying to upgrade it and all the tests went just fine…"

"Just disappear from my sight!"

"Chloe, you saved my life," Lana suddenly said, realizing it just now. "Oh God… you-you could've died there with me, but you still saved me. Thank you so much…" She was practically crying now.

"It's ok, Lana, it's ok." Chloe took her friend into her arms and while rubbing her back and soothing her, she sighed again. Lana Lang would truly become the death of her one day.

"I think you need to shorten your hair a little bit," the brunette said when she let go of Chloe. "It's slightly burnt on the bottom."

Chloe couldn't believe that her friend would really notice or care about something like that when they should've been both dead, but she didn't say a thing. Instead she just grabbed her hair and checked it up. It was too long anyway, she thought since now it was even longer than Lana's who always had it the same way.

"You'll shorten it a little bit and we'll have the same length," Raven prattled on and then she tried to stand up. She hissed immediately.

"What's wrong?" Chloe got concerned, immediately forgetting how mad she was at her. Lana was the only thing that connected Chloe to Smallville, after all. The only person from her past. Not the one Chloe would like to be there, but… it was enough, the blonde told herself while ignoring the wave of sudden pain that took over her body. She would be strong like she always was. And she would work until she would forget again. That was her recipe for life.

Carter torn Lana's sleeve off and they could see that she had a little burn there.

"It's nothing," he said casually. "Nothing that would leave a permanent damage. Come on. We have to bail before too many people come to watch the show." So they all got into the car and drove away.

Chloe was watching the smoking ruins from the distance and they looked exactly like her life had been for the last ten years.

Would the pain ever end? She asked herself.

She hoped for better days, but what was in front of her would be only getting darker and darker.

It was always the darkest before the dawn.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"We have to fix this pretty face of yours," said Mike, CIA's stylist and proud gay, while covering the nasty cut on Chloe's face. "Don't worry, hon. It'll be gone soon and your face will be beautiful again."

"Um… ok," Chloe sighed while watching her reflection idly.

"What's wrong, hon?" the question followed immediately. Mike was excellent in recognizing his fellow agents' moods.

"Nothing… it's just…" Chloe started again after a couple of seconds. "Do you think Lana is prettier than me?" It was a silly thing to ask and she knew that. All those years in high school when Chloe had been notoriously missed because of the queen Lang were long gone, but… she had no one, she was a CIA agent, something that she would never get out of; she had no perspectives for starting a family in the future since she was working for one of the secret kind of CIA's branches and now she had that nasty cut on her face. Ok, agents were always well taken care of, but… Lana could cover her burn with a long-sleeved dress at the party they were going to. Chloe couldn't just put a veil on her face!

"Honey, you are worth ten times more than Lana," Mike whispered quietly into Chloe's ear. "She is beautiful, yes, I agree. And she is pretty smart, too, but when it comes to being friendly, she's always acting like she was above us all. It's not even her fault, she was raised that way, praised for her beauty and she's used to being wanted, but… you are much more special, Chloe. You're more human than she'll ever be. Even though you're an agent, you still feel for people, you aren't just a deadly machine or some cold drop dead gorgeous. You are… friendly and kind and your heart is still in the right place. That is something that I don't usually encounter in this place. Do me a favor and never ever change."

Chloe had tears in her eyes after the speech from her gay friend.

"Thank you," she just moved her lips, but Mike understood. They were all schooled in lip reading.

"You're welcome. You deserve it. Now… please, do not cry. You'll destroy all my hard work!"

She laughed at that.

"That's much better!"

Chloe was sitting quietly while Mike was putting his finishing touches and then she was able to stand up and put her evening gown on.

"Chloe…" Mike stopped her.

"Yeah?" She turned to him.

"Your heart is warm and kind, but it doesn't mean that people don't see how hurt it is. You disguise yourself well when on the mission, but here… it's just written all over your face," he pointed out.

"Mike…" she started warningly, but he interrupted her.

"If you ever want to talk, you know where to find me."

"Thanks, but… I don't think I want to open those old wounds." After having said that, she finally made her way to the dressing room.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Everything's ready. We can take off," Lex's personal assistant informed him.

"What are you waiting for, then? Take off already instead of telling me! Do you need my permission?! I'm already on the plane!" Luthor snapped at him and came back to analyzing some graphs on his laptop.

Stupid infantile man! He should just hire somebody else!

But he kept changing his assistants and it was getting really boring and annoying.

He started to think that the problem was actually himself and not the people working for him.

And now he had to fly all the way across the country to attend some stupid business banquet!


	3. Chapter 3

PART 02

The door leading to the ballroom opened showing a beautiful blonde in a blood red dress. She was wearing heels and her hair was pulled up into a stylish bun. As a result, she looked sexy and dangerous.

Chloe took a deep breath and made a step forward. She might've looked confident, but inside she was quite nervous. Yes, she'd been through all the necessary training while working for the CIA, but still, looking like this while moving seductively just wasn't her style. She also felt quite unstable in the high heels she was wearing, but she was hiding it perfectly. It was just that big galas, expensive dresses and too much make up didn't suit her. She always felt best while wearing jeans and some casual t-shit, but those times had been long over. Now she had to act like her friend, Lana. She had to pretend that she was just like her. At least until the mission was over.

"Target acquired," Chloe said carefully as not to move her lips too much. She had a microphone inside her tooth and a discreet earphone inside her ear.

"Copy that," she heard Lana's voice and then looked to the other side of the room until she found her friend.

Raven was wearing a very similar dress to the one Chloe had on, but hers was black and much more skimpy and her long dark hair was let down her back. She certainly looked better, the blonde thought with a slight sigh. It wasn't that she wanted to look more like Lana to show off to some man like she'd used to, but sometimes she was just a little jealous of her friend's lean and slim figure.

"Approaching the target," Chloe said and once she noticed Lana nodding imperceptibly, she moved towards the bar where she saw a middle-age man in a black suit and a bow tie.

She maneuvered herself skillfully, so when she finally reached her destination she was standing right next to him. She turned to the bartender and she was just about to open her mouth to give him her order and then look seductively at the man next to her when…

"Chloe?"

That voice shook her, made her hot and then unpleasantly cold, sent shivers down her back, left her speechless, unable to answer, unable to move.

It went straight to her heart, moving it and causing it to beat faster and faster…

Could that be possible? Was this really happening?

Or was she simply delusional? No, it couldn't be!

No… no after so many years…

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lex was sick of those kind of banquets, parties, galas… whatever the hell it was, it was connected to his job and he had to make an appearance, talk to some old acquaintances and make some new ones. Only it was hard to do when he didn't show any enthusiasm or find pleasure in it. He even stopped bringing dates to such events since it seemed to be too much of a trouble. He had to entertain them, buy them pretty things and drinks and then they were always expecting some quality time after, which of course meant sex. Lex didn't know what happened to him, but for quite some time now he hadn't even enjoyed a meaningless fuck. There was no thrill, no joy, no pursue in it. Women were too willing and he truly had a hard time trying to figure out if they really wanted him for him or just for his money. Or he didn't even have to try to figure that out because it was obvious. There had been only one woman that he knew if in a relationship, it would be for him alone, but… no, impossible. She was dead now.

He straightened himself up and decided to go talk to one more businessman before finally going home. His company needed that, so he simply had to suffer through it.

Halfway to that man, Lex's body jerked to a sudden stop and as a result he almost knocked down a dancing couple.

"I'm so sorry," he said idly, not even looking at them, but he didn't move either.

It was impossible, everything told him.

Maybe he'd drunk too much. Only he didn't feel woozy, so it wasn't the case. Actually, it was very hard for him to get drunk and sometimes he wondered whether it was because of the unusual immunity of his body against any kind of disease.

Maybe he was going crazy. Maybe he was just seeing ghosts.

Or maybe it just wasn't her.

He still couldn't say her name, even in his thoughts.

But she looked exactly like her. Ten years older, yes, and she was a woman now, not an adolescent anymore, but nevertheless it was her. She was sexy and seductive, her body curved in all the right places, her dress fitting perfectly, hiding and revealing all the right parts.

A sudden heat wave hit Lex's body, his throat got sore, his heart rate increased and… yes, involuntary reaction, his cock sprung to life.

He didn't feel such desire since… he couldn't remember. Maybe since she'd died.

Or hadn't for that matter.

Why was she even there? Was he going crazy or she was really alive? And if so, why would she make him suffer so much for so long?

He watched her making a step and then going to the bar like she made up her mind.

He turned around as she was walking, unable to let her out of his sight and then, he saw her from the back. There was no way that woman wasn't… Lex winced… Chloe Sullivan.

He remembered the delicious curves of her butt… he…

His body made him go after her without him even realizing it and then he was standing right next to her. The scent of her perfume hit his senses and made him feel dizzy all over again.

Put yourself together, Lex, you pathetic fool, he told himself and then he spoke out loud, "Chloe?" His voice was slightly hoarse and seemed like it didn't really belong to him, but he knew that instance that it was her because she recognized it. Her whole body tensed and he could swear that her breathing accelerated, too.

Chloe knew she should just run and forget about that encounter as not to endanger Lex like she'd done to Lana, but it was too late anyway. Besides, she just couldn't. She felt like their chapter was never really closed and they had to have their ending. It didn't matter if it was a tragic one or not. She at least owed him some of the truth.

So she turned to him. Slowly. Taking her time.

First thing she saw was his neck since she didn't have the courage to look up into his eyes just yet, those blue-grey depths she'd used to love so much. She always thought that although they seemed cold, they were in fact hot, maybe only for her, but they were. She saw his chest clad in another expensive suit, felt his scent attacking her nose. It was his expensive cologne and she recognized it. It was the very same that she'd smelt on him back in Smallville. It was Lex. Her Lex. Nothing changed.

"Chloe?" he repeated, his voice now seemed more like it belonged to him, but it was still full of unwanted emotions. He was watching her face intensely, waiting for her to look up at him, wanting to meet her green eyes. He felt too much right now, so he was afraid what might happen when…

And there it was.

Chloe finally dared to look up and their eyes met.

She almost gasped when the familiar and loved color hit her, pierced her right through and she was hurt in an instance. She was hurt because those weren't the same eyes she remembered. Something had changed. Now Lex looked so hurt, so crashed, like there was no life left in him, no spark.

Was it possible that it was all her fault? That those wounds she'd left him with had never really healed? She'd never had proof that he'd felt the same, but now… was it possible that he… that he'd actually had?

"Lex…" her voice seemed strangled, tense and squeaky. "Lex…" she repeated and this time it was a whisper.

They both felt the heat their bodies were generating, they both felt drawn to each other.

They both felt too much like for just this one time.

She wanted to thrust herself into his arms, wanted him to take her, kidnap her; wanted to go far, far away, away from the CIA, away from Lana, away from the brutal and cruel world with no place for happy endings. Yet, she knew it was impossible. She knew that relationships between agents and civilians never really worked because the agent had to always lie to their family. And when it came to Chloe's case, it just wasn't possible because the secret branch she was working for forbid it.

She'd agreed to the job easily because she'd thought she would never encounter that one particular man again…

…until now.

"Oh God… what happened, Chloe?" he finally found more words to say than just keep repeating her name.

"I… I…" she stammered. What was she supposed to tell him? The truth? It was truly out of the question. So what, then? "Lex, I can't. I just can't tell you…" she finally uttered, knowing that the truth was better than inventing some silly story. He wouldn't believe a lie anyway and he didn't deserve to be hurt by her futile attempt of even trying to sell it to him.

"It was because of my father, wasn't it?" he asked instead of pushing, which actually surprised her.

"Lex…" she started again, but he kept on guessing.

"I know that the government was involved since my father's trial was secret, but… I never thought… I should've figured it all out!" he suddenly raised his voice, which attracted other people's attention.

Chloe suddenly feared that he would jeopardize her mission and therefore what had happened to Lana would… no, she couldn't let that happen! Panic welled up inside her.

"Keep your voice down!" she hushed him and then looked around.

Fortunately, she spotted her target leaving the ballroom while entering the hall that led upstairs to private rooms. Good, she thought.

"You were that witness that took my father down, after all." Understanding appeared in Lex's eyes. "I should've known! I should've never given up like that! I shouldn't have believed that you were… why, Chloe? Why did you do this to me? I… I loved you." He stopped as soon as he realized what he'd just said and they were both staring at each other in shock.

They were silent for a moment and then Chloe just started crying.

"Oh God, I'm sorry." Lex reached his hand to her, but then he put it on his head instead and a moment later dropped to his side. "You were in the witness protection program, weren't you? You started a new life. You probably are here because your… boyfriend… or husband…" she could see how much pain those words were bringing him, "is here, isn't it?"

She didn't answer and then just looked down at the floor when biting her lower lip.

"Am I right?" He couldn't stop himself anymore and he just put his hands on her shoulders.

She gasped at the feeling of his warm and strong touch on her bare skin.

"You know nothing," she just said while looking up at him again. "Nothing." She shook her head.

"Then tell me the truth!" he demanded and shook her a little.

She couldn't stand it anymore. She made a step back and his hands dropped from her shoulders.

"I can't. I'm sorry, Lex, but I just can't."

"You can at least tell me with whom you're here today," he said bitterly and with pain on his face. He didn't even try to hide it anymore. "He's not much of a gentleman since you have to get a drink all by yourself."

"I'm here alone," she spoke slowly and clearly. She just couldn't bare the pain on his face. "I've never really gotten together with anyone since…" she then stopped.

"Since what?" Lex prompted.

It was rather funny, she thought and wanted to laugh, or tragic when her emotions were on such a high level that she'd cried and now was just amused. There was so much to tell, so many secrets between them and yet, all Lex could be worried about was Chloe's potential boyfriend!

"Since I…" Oh, what the hell! He needs to know! He deserves to know that I cared! "Since I was in love with you."

He didn't say anything to that. He was just watching her in silence and in slight awe.

"I am so, so sorry that I hurt you, Lex. I didn't mean to. It was agony to leave you, but… but I did not have a choice," she told him.

"I understand," he said in a whisper.

"You do?"

"Yes."

"Well, do you have a date? Lex Luthor coming to a place like this without one is just not possible," she asked him before she could bite her tongue. She didn't really want to know if he'd moved on.

"You'll probably be surprised, but I don't," he answered.

She suddenly felt ill at ease. Even when she didn't look into his eyes, she still felt him everywhere. She could feel his gaze devouring her like he couldn't get enough of her.

"You look beautiful. You are gorgeous, Chloe."

"Ok, I see that I really do have to cut in!" Chloe almost jump when she heard Lana's voice in her ear. "What the hell are you doing, Watchtower?! I decided to give you two a little time because I realized how much you wanted to explain yourself, but… What do you think you're doing now?! Go after the target!"

"What's wrong?" Lex asked on seeing Chloe wincing. "What happened?"

"I have to… I have to go," she just said. "I'm sorry, Lex, that we couldn't meet in better circumstances… Hell, I'm sorry we even bumped into each other. It would've been easier if we hadn't." And then she just turned around. Turned away from him. In that very moment she felt such a pain that she couldn't breathe. It was even worse that leaving him in the first place. So much worse. And she wasn't just hurting herself, she was hurting him as well.

And she wanted him so much! She didn't even realize how much her body craved for him. Now, when the initial shock and awe was gone she could feel her nipples tightened, her panties totally wet.

And he'd barely touched her!

She couldn't think what would happen and what she would feel if…

No, no!

And then he actually stopped her.

One second she was turning away from him and the next his hand grasped her arms and he swirled her body around again so they were standing face to face, closer than before, his hand still on hers, his eyes fixed on her eyes, his lips so close she could feel his breath on her skin.

And it was an absolute torture for her.

His cock started hardening and Lex tried everything he could to stop himself from such an embarrassing situation while being in a room full of people.

Chloe's inner channel actually clenched. She just wanted him all over her, wanted his body, wanted him naked, wanted his cock inside of her, fucking her senseless… God, she hadn't had sex for so long and she would be so tight for him, would feel him so… She wanted to cry again once she realized she could never truly have him.

"If you think that I'll just let you walk away…" he started, but didn't finish.

"Lex, this is too complicated. You don't know anything. I can't just…" But then his lips went down on hers and she was lost. In fact, she'd never before in her life felt such a fire from just one kiss.

Before she could think clearly about what she was doing, she started kissing him back and soon felt his tongue sliding inside her mouth, so she opened it to meet him. She clung to him, wanting to feel him whole, hating the clothes they had on and the public place they were in. Their saliva mixing, their hands on each other's faces, their pelvises meeting and… he was hard.

"Fuck, Chloe! Do you want me to finish the job for you?!" Lana's angry voice sounded in her ear again.

"Oh God…" Chloe whizzed, realizing where she was and she broke the kiss. "Oh God…" She was shaky, barely able to stand in her high heels. She knew that very moment that she wouldn't be able to walk away from Lex once more. She knew it meant trouble, but she was willing to take that chance. She needed it. Even it if meant that they could spend only one night together.

"I won't let you go ever again," Lex said in a determined voice. "Mark my words."

"I'll be back. I promise," Chloe found herself saying. "Just wait here. I'll be back…" She put a hand to his chest, feeling the hard texture of it underneath his suit. It was raising fast as he was breathing erratically.

He looked into her eyes in desperate need to make sure.

"Lex, I promise. Can you trust me? I won't leave now. I wouldn't do that to you."

"Ok…" he sighed in acquiescence. "Right here. I'll go to the bathroom to cool myself down, but then I'll be right back on this spot," he pointed the floor.

"Ok," she agreed and turned away.

She wasn't able to look at him again. She just had to finish her mission.

"What the fuck, Chloe?!" Lana was angry. "Will you really meet him afterwards?!"

"Yes. I can't hurt him again."

"I had no idea you were in love with him!"

"Lana, please…"

"You know it's against the rules, don't you?!"

Chloe reached the door leading to private rooms where her target had disappeared and when she walked into the corridor, she saw Lana standing by the stairs.

She suddenly realized that they both forgot about their code names. Again.

"Lana, please…" Chloe got to her. "Please, do not tell anyone. I promise I'll be careful and that it'll not lead to anything more. Just… please, you are my only friend, do this for me, please!"

Lana was looking at her when being totally baffled and bewildered. "Chloe…" she was shocked with the intensity of Chloe's outburst.

"Only you heard that conversation, Lana," Chloe continued. Yes and that meant that no one knew about their calling themselves by their real names. "So there is no one in the CIA but you that knows about this. Not even our handler." Carter was waiting outside, but the connection was off for the time being. "Please, you can't betray me. I did so much for you… you owe me this," Chloe didn't think she would reach that far in her pleas, but she didn't care anymore. "I saved your life, so we'll be even if you just keep quiet."

Lana sighed heavily. She didn't look pleased.

"Fine," she finally agreed. "But you better be careful and don't you dare let it lead you anywhere. You know the drill. We are special agents. Our branch is secret. We dedicated our lives to our country."

"Oh God, thank you so much!" Chloe almost bounced with joy on her high and unstable heels and then she thrust herself into Lana's arms.

The raven friend hugged her very tightly and stoke her back. "After all, we only have each other," she whispered into Chloe's ear. "Now…" she said when they let go of each other. "I believe you have a mission, but if you want to, I can take care of this for you."

"Are you sure?" Chloe raised her eyebrows, torn between running back to Lex and finishing the work herself. She wasn't sure Lana could do that, but after all, seducing the target and eliminating him was pretty much Lana's specialty. Though this time either Chloe or Lana didn't have to do much. They just had to make sure to get into their target's room.

"Yeah!" Lana assured her. "Don't worry. I won't screw it up this time."

"Thank you! I love you!" Chloe hugged her again, this time briefly and then she ran back into the ballroom.

"Yeah, me, too," Lana sighed heavily and went upstairs.

She was angry. Very angry. Couldn't Chloe see? Couldn't she tell…?

Raven finally reached the first floor and was immediately stopped by a guard.

"Sorry, miss, this is off limits."

"Me no English… Je suis francais," Lana sang in her sweet innocent voice and then she knocked the guard out. "Take that," she said and walked into the right room.

Her job was only to kill a man, but she was so hurt that she needed something to ease the pain.

That was why she knocked on the door and when the man opened, she just smiled and pretended to be French again, pretended that she was lost, that she was some easy fuck, just a stupid young woman who wanted to have fun.

So she walked inside, made sure the door was locked and started kissing the man.

He was notorious for sleeping around, although he was married. He also was a drug dealer and a killer, too.

Lana quickly pushed him onto the bed, opened his pants and while pulling her dress up, she impaled herself on his cock and started riding him.

But it wasn't what she really wanted. It was only her means to ease the agony.

Then she broke the man's neck.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Chloe walked back into the ballroom, she scolded herself for rushing too much. She couldn't act suspicious. She had to act like she wasn't there, which of course would be so much easier if she wasn't wearing that dress.

Lex was standing exactly where she left him.

Her heart ached when she saw how miserable he looked. He was worried she would leave him anyway. She couldn't blame him though. She'd already left him once and broken his heart in the process. He didn't know the 'new her', so he had the right to doubt.

Once he noticed her, his face illuminated, his eyes came back to life and for the first time she could see the familiar spark in them.

"Take me out of here," she just said and let him take her hand, burning her with his touch and then escort her out of the building.

"Back door," she just said and he listened without questions.

They both knew there were still too much lies and secrets between them, but the time for more questions and answers would come later. Now they could finally do what they'd craved for, for so long. They could become one in consuming flames of passion.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3

Chloe and Lex didn't say a word while they were sitting in his expensive sport car heading towards the nearest best hotel.

They weren't touching, weren't even looking at each other. They were both still slightly overwhelmed with what had just happened. Suddenly all their bravest dreams somehow became reality. Chloe had been spending so much time thinking about him since she'd left him and then regretting it and doing everything she could to forget again. Lex, on the side, had been torturing himself with 'what could've been'. They'd both been thinking then that it'd been so stupid. How could a person still wonder about another after so much time passing by? Or maybe it was just real love, one at a lifetime opportunity. Maybe even though Lex had known Chloe was dead something inside of him had known better.

Lex's car stopped in front of a hotel and he quickly jumped out of it, feeling his cock already reacting to what anticipated him. He circled the car before Chloe even managed to untangle herself from her seatbelt. Her hands were very shaky. Lex opened the door for her and took her hand. They both walked towards the front door and on their way Lex threw the key to the valet awaiting for it.

Chloe might still be in total shock and might not know what was happening all around her, might not be able to notice anyone beside Lex, but ten years of working for the CIA paid off because suddenly she walked towards the elevator instead of the reception desk.

Lex didn't say a word. He just let her go and was back in no time with the key.

It was only when the elevator door closed behind them they finally looked at each other and reached their hands to grab each others' faces in the very same time.

They kissed and then Lex's tongue licked along Chloe's bottom lip, making her gasp in surprise and moan with pleasure. Her hands left his face and she placed them around his neck, bringing his body closer to hers, desperate to feel more of him, desperate to feel all of him that had been denied her for so long.

Encouraged, Lex also put his arms around her, sliding his tongue into her mouth, joining it with hers and sliding his hands down her back until they cupped and squeezed her butt, then he pulled her pelvis against hers, so she could feel how hard he already was for her.

Chloe moaned again and Lex thought that was the best sound she'd ever uttered while in his presence. He just wanted to strip her off her clothes and fuck her senseless, but he also wanted much, much more. He wanted it all, he wanted her for the rest of his life. He felt like she'd brought him back from the dead, given him new life and he didn't intend on letting her go ever again. In that very moment it didn't matter what was still unsaid between them, it didn't matter than she'd been the one to leave, he felt like he could forgive it all, he could bear it all as long as they would stay together.

The elevator finally stopped and Lex, though unwillingly, stopped kissing Chloe and released her from his arms. He was still a Luthor, so he couldn't risk any compromising pictures in the news the next day, not to mention that it did not miss his attention that Chloe wanted to leave the banquet through the back door. She must've still been in hiding, still afraid of something, so he wouldn't be the one to jeopardize it. After all, if she'd really loved him ten years ago, it meant that she'd had a pretty damn good reason for letting him go.

They walked into the corridor and Lex found the right door immediately. He opened it with one slide of his key card and let Chloe in. Then when she was already inside, he quickly followed her and shut the door soundly.

They jumped to each other again at an instance, colliding with their mouths, kissing, licking and fumbling with their clothes.

Lex knew this hotel from his many business meetings, so he gently directed Chloe towards the bedroom.

When they found themselves inside the right room, Chloe finally managed to take his shirt off and dropped in on the floor. In order to do that he had to let go of her for a moment and as soon as the upper part of his clothing was out of the way, he started touching her again.

Chloe looked down at his chest which in her opinion was just perfect. Lex had that pretty lean body with slight muscles that weren't too much, but just enough. She'd never really took to any bulk guys since her crush on Clark, which she'd realized later on was a huge mistake. She'd never really loved her dark-haired friend.

Chloe put her hands on Lex's chest, enjoying its texture and hardness, then slid them down with the intention of undoing his trousers, so she could finally…

Damn, she forgot what she was doing when Lex found the discreet and very small zip on her back and unzipped her dress which fell from her to the floor, revealing her skimpy red underwear and then his hands were immediately on her breasts, massaging them and kneading skillfully.

That day Chloe was actually happy that Mike had made her put all of that pretty garments on.

Soon, her bra was out of the way and Chloe was thrown onto the bed by her very sexy bald companion. She giggled at that presentation of the macho feature and watched him climbing onto the bed and hovering over her.

"You just had to act like a cave man, didn't you?" she laughed, but when his lips found themselves over her nipple, she stopped and started gasping and wriggling under him again. She was beyond aroused, she could feel the wetness in her panties and was desperate to finally feel him inside of her.

She managed to focus again and reached to his pants.

With still shaky hands she managed to undo the button and the zipper and Lex's cock sprung free.

Lex stopped kissing her body and a load groan of relief escaped his throat.

He was hard. So hard. She thought. And big.

She started salivating at the image presented.

Lex noticed that she was impressed.

"You like what you see?" he asked her with a chuckle and a huge dose of self-pride.

She didn't answer. She just kept looking.

"Chloe… I'm dying here…" Lex rasped. "Can we go back to business?

His big protruding and - in her opinion - quite beautiful…

Oh God, did I just think Lex's cock was beautiful? She thought, inwardly moaning with embarrassment.

"Oh God," she finally found her words. "What was I missing the whole time…" and she took it in her hands.

"God… Chloe…" Lex closed his eyes in pleasure and then opened them again. "Chloe…"

"Yes, Lex…" she whispered and sank down to take him into her mouth.

This time Lex closed his eyes as not to see Chloe licking his cock. It was too much and he was close to losing it.

"Chloe… please… just stop… I'll lose it too quickly… and the fun will end before…" he stopped once more, unable to utter a full sentence.

Chloe giggled again and listened, lying back on the bed and waiting for him to finally claim her.

Lex kissed her, slowly making his way down her chest and giving his attention to both of her breasts, then he licked her belly hole.

His hands slid under her panties and he just ripped them off of her.

"Hey! Those were new!" she said, pretending to be mad at him.

"I'll buy you another," Lex just said and kissed the inside of her thigh.

Chloe shivered.

"And then…" he continued while getting dangerously close to her clit. He could smell her arousal and knew if he didn't hurry, he would be in a real danger of losing it again. "And then I'll buy you another…" he kissed the spot much closer, "and another…" he blew the air from his lungs on her clit.

Chloe wriggled wantonly under him, desperately trying to gain some friction.

"God, what are you doing to me, Chloe… you have no idea…" And he finally put his finger to her entrance.

"Ohhh… ahhh…" came out of Chloe's mouth. "I… I do… vice versa…" was all she managed to utter.

And then Lex's mouth went down on her clit and she was lost.

Her body shook dangerously.

"Already?" Lex asked from between her legs.

"I haven't seen you for years!" she exclaimed as he slid his finger inside of her and nuzzled her clit with his tongue. That did it. Her body started shaking more and then he could feel her coming.

"Damn it!" he cursed, wiped his mouth and raised himself to kiss her. He couldn't wait any longer, not when she was so delicious.

He took his cock in his free hand and slid it inside of her.

That new feeling caused her to grasp the bed frame.

"Oh, fuck!" she yelled. "That was… that was nothing…. Compared what… to what… I feel coming nowwww!" she screamed when he found himself all the way in. She clearly meant the coming of next more powerful climax.

"Are you ok? Did I hurt you?" Lex had to make sure.

"No… no… just go on!" she yelled at him and embraced his neck with her arms whole letting go of the bed frame.

"Give me a minute…" Lex took a deep breath and closed his eyes as not to look at her face. He would come if he did.

"Lex, please…"

So he pulled out and pulled in again and they both groaned loudly.

"Oh, yeah…" Chloe whispered into his ear while he kept that rhythm up. "Yeah… yeah…" she wrapped her legs around his waist, he was all in, filling her tightly, but she still wanted more and more. She wanted to become one with him.

Lex took the hint and helped her get her legs a little higher, then he bent his knees and while almost sitting he could drive his cock all the way inside, as deep as he could get.

"Oh, yeah…" Chloe yearned with clear pleasure. "Just like that… fuck me…"

"You'll be… sore…" he noticed, but wouldn't back out for nothing now. Even if she asked.

"I don't… fuck… ing… care!" she rasped while he started fucking her like she wanted him to.

She could feel his cock hitting the exactly right spot inside her, so deliciously deep and her inner muscles started dangerously clamping over it.

"Fuck!" Lex yelled at the sensation. "You close?"

"Yeah… gotta come…"

And then Chloe came with a loud scream, experiencing the best orgasm she'd ever had.

Lex was lost in the torturing spasms around his cock, so close to… but no, he wouldn't so quickly.

His face contorted with effort, sweat bathing his body, mixing with Chloe's.

"It's ok, Lex," she said when putting her hands on his face. "It's ok to let go. You can let go now, Lex."

Yes, he could finally let go. After all that time he finally could.

So he came with a loud groan, releasing himself inside her body in spasms, finally claiming Chloe Sullivan. Finally feeling like he found his home. Like he found what he'd been always looking for.

Chloe focused on his face, watched it closely. In that very moment her love for him grew even bigger, she felt even more happy while being able to give him that pleasure, that release of the tension that had been growing inside of him for the last ten years.

And all those feelings absolutely terrified her…

…because there was tomorrow.

The next day she would have to walk out on him again.

She didn't think she would be able to do this. She could easily hurt herself, she'd been doing just that her whole life, but she could not hurt the person she loved. It was worse, so much worse.

She started stroking his head while he was coming and then his body collapsed, his face disappeared buried in her long hair, their bodies still joined in a tight embrace, not willing to let go, his softened cock still inside of her.

"Sorry, I thought… I would last longer…" Lex rasped into her ear.

"We have all night," she found herself whispering.

She felt love, she felt fulfillment, but she also felt a terrible dread.

The dread of the next day.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Lex opened his eyes, he thought for a while that he'd been dreaming. That he hadn't really encountered Chloe Sullivan again. He thought he must've gotten drunk the previous night and ended up in bed with some nameless woman. That couldn't be Chloe Sullivan. Just couldn't. For all he knew, Chloe was dead for almost ten years.

Only when he dared to look at the woman lying beside him, cuddled into his chest, he saw that it was really happening. It was really her. What more, they'd spent an amazing night together. Lex thought it was the best sex of his life.

He watched her beautiful face in silence, not wanting to wake her up just yet. She'd changed. Of course she had. After all it'd been so long. Now she must be twenty eight years old. He was exactly six years older than she was, but it wasn't a huge gap. It was quite perfect.

Her hair was longer, her body slimmer than he remembered, but she was still curved in all the right places.

He gently raised his right hand that was free of holding her and took the stray strand of her hair from her face.

So beautiful, he thought, all I ever wanted right here, in my arms.

Was it possible that after such a long time of complete darkness, resignation, misery and pain, the dawn finally came?

Just like that, one night Chloe reappeared in his life, though it still seemed so surreal. Lex just couldn't wrap his mind around it all. Chloe loved him, loved him for so long… exactly like he loved her. But still, there were secrets to tell, things he just had to know. He was full of hope though, the worst was over, after all, right? Now he was sure that he would never let her go again. He would keep her. Protect her. Watch over her.

She brought back all the sense of his life that he'd lost and he wanted nothing more than to hold her for the rest of his life.

To marry her.

Just be with her.

Have children with her.

Make her Chloe Luthor.

Suddenly it came to him that her name might not be Chloe anymore. She could've changed it. What was it now?

The sun was raising, so more and more of its bright light got inside through the window. Then, just a second later, Lex hissed.

There was a pretty bad scratch on Chloe's cheek. Her hair was partially covering it up now, but he put it aside again and there it was. She must've covered it up with make-up before, he thought and went back in his mind to the moment they'd seen each other the previous night. Yeah, definitely, he would've noticed something so serious.

In that very moment Chloe opened her eyes and her peaceful face transformed into a rather contorted one.

"Chloe…" Lex's voice was loud and strained. "What happened?" he asked while brushing her cheek gently with his finger. "Who hurt you?"

She looked up at him and was out of the bed and on her feet so quickly that he was still confused what happened that suddenly there was that gaping hole by his side instead of her warm body.

She picked the red dress from the floor and put in on without even bothering with underwear.

She felt pain, so much pain that it was tearing her apart, but she knew she had to go.  
She had to leave. She had to find that strength in her to do so, because otherwise Lex would get hurt.

And that was the last thing she wanted for him.

"Chloe!" he raised his voice, watching her when she was scanning the room with her eyes in order to find the rest of her stuff.

She didn't answer, she just picked her bra and then her destroyed panties and stuffed it all in her bag.

"Chloe?" Lex repeated, completely perplexed of her behavior. "Chloe, what is it?"

Now she was heading towards the door.

"CHLOE!" he roared, jumped out of the bed and completely naked ran through the room and then hallway and stopped her while grabbing her arm to turn her to face him.

She stilled, but did not look at him, instead she fixed her eyes on the floor.

"Would you mind telling me what's going on?" his voice was like steel, hard, but she could tell that he was doing everything in his power to keep it that way.

"Lex… just please, do not make this any harder," she pleaded and finally met his eyes.

She shivered and crossed her arms over her chest while seeing the pain and desperation in those blue-grey depths.

"Why?!" he burst, causing her to jump. "Why?! Why the fuck are you doing this to me again?! Is there someone else?! What are you hiding, Chloe?! You can tell me! If you did something terrible, I can handle it! I'm a Luthor, remember? I've done some really…"

"Lex," she stopped him. "It's not this. It's just too dangerous and I can't have you in the middle of things. I'm sorry, but I just can't!"

She turned from him again, hiding her stinging eyes, her whole body shaking.

"You know, I thought you were different," he said bitterly. "I thought you were special, but it seems to me now that every single woman is exactly the same! You're all the same!" he screamed. "You've all only deceived me, hurt me, used me and betrayed me in the end!"

Chloe shook even more and then she burst into tears. Even though her back was turned to him, she could still feel his pain, his agony, his desperation. She knew that if she walked out that door right this moment, he would finally break. Who knew, maybe even land up in BelleReve. Or… commit suicide. What did he have in that life full of business? Nothing.

She made her decision. Just for once, she decided to follow her heart instead of her brain. She was done hurting herself and the person she loved the most. She had only one chance left at love in her life and this was it.

Chloe whirled back to him, seeing his face contorted in pain when he didn't manage to hide it on time. She could've sworn that his eyes were a little glassy, too.

"Chloe…" his voice sounded hoarse. "Just tell me, please, tell me! I have to know! I've been in the dark for the last ten years!"

"It's classified," she said with a sigh.

"What do you mean?" he winced.

"I… I am…" she hesitated and swallowed hard.

"Damn it, Chloe! Just tell me!" he raised his voice again and suddenly realized that he was still naked. "Tell me!" he put his hands on her shoulders and shook her slightly, demanding an answer. He couldn't get more humiliated in that moment anyway and added to that, he was already semi-erected. He'd been ever since he'd jumped from the bed to chase after her. It was his morning call, after all and Chloe was there.

"I'm CIA, ok?!" she finally confessed, raising her voice as well. "Is this what you wanted to hear?! It's all classified! I got recruited after I testified against your father! I chose this over living a life of somebody else! I would never be happy while living somewhere where no one would know me, where everyone would think I was a completely different person! I didn't want to lose myself. I still wanted to be Chloe!" she kept on crying. "And this scratch…" she pointed her cheek, "is from my last mission!"

Lex's hands dropped from her arms and he just stood there in front of her, shocked and speechless.

"Wh… You WHAT?!" he suddenly asked. Ok, he certainly didn't expect that.

"Yes, it's true." She sighed deeply, feeling like she'd just jeopardized both of their futures. But they'd never really had any without each other, had they? "Lana bumped into me one day and joined in."

"Do you honestly want to tell me that you and… Lana Lang of all peopleare both agents in the CIA?" His eyebrows wandered even higher on his forehead this time. "Seriously?!"

"Yes," Chloe admitted. "What more… and that is why I shouldn't have been telling you this… we're kind of secret agents. We're working for the top secret branch."

"Of course you are," he just said in strange awe. "How?" he asked then.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ten years earlier

Chloe outside the Talon

"Chloe Sullivan?" 

On seeing the two men in black suits, panic ran through her body.

Lionel must've found out! God, why was she so stupid?! Why hadn't she listened to Lex offering her security earlier?!

Chloe decided in a moment. She wouldn't just surrender. It didn't lie in her nature. She would do her best to escape. She would run like hell, she would run for her life.

Well, actually she would be running for her life.

It all happened exactly in the moment she turned around, ready to flee.

She heard a gunshot. 

One of the men grabbed her arm and pulled her to the ground, covering her with his own body.

The other aimed at the shooter that was further away and took him down.

It was all over in a couple of seconds.

She was shaking, breathing erratically, her heart pounding loudly. She didn't understand what had just happened.

If those guys saved her that meant… were they Lex's men? She would be so glad if that turned out to be true. She would drive over to the mansion to thank him right away. He'd just saved her life. And all she wanted to do now was to sink into his warm arms.

"W-what?" she asked stupidly, still astonished.

The man raised from the ground and reached his hand to help her out.

"Chloe Sullivan, I am agent Marx, this is agent Thomson. We are CIA and we're here to take you in."

"What?!" Such a prolific writer was she and now all she could do was to just keep repeating the same word over and over again.

"We have to get you out of sight," Thomson said, hid his gun and grabbed her arm, dragging her to the car.

"Wait! You can't just… my father… Lex…"

"We are deeply sorry, miss Sullivan, but your father was murdered half an hour ago. We only managed to get to you on time."

Chloe jerked to a stop and looked up at the agents with big unbelieving eyes.

"We're sorry, we did everything we could," Marx said as it that could make her feel better.

She was left all alone. She had no family. The only person related to her was gone now. Her dear and loved Dad was just gone!

"Lex… What about Lex?! I have to…" she started, but Thompson stopped her.

"If you want to keep him safe and avoid what happened to your father, you have to go with us."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Present

"That's how it started," Chloe finished telling her story to Lex. "I couldn't come out of hiding. It was too dangerous and Lionel's trial wouldn't be due for at least couple of months. They had to be careful because he was too powerful, he had too many connections. Then it was simply too late. They faked my death to keep me safe, because Lionel was getting closer to me. They offered me new life or recruitment since I was a good material for an agent. I chose the latter."

"But why…" Lex thought hard. "Why didn't you come back to me after my father's death?"

"Lionel wasn't the only guilty party, there were many others, his allies, ready to get their revenge. If they saw me with you, we would be both in mortal danger."

"What did my father do to piss off the CIA?"

"Dangerous experiments on meter infected, sponsoring terrorism all over the world… he also killed a couple of top secret agents. There's a pretty big list and… there's something else."

"What? What is it, Chloe?" Lex got concerned while noticing the confused look on her face.

"CIA never actually identified Lionel's body. It was officially cremated, but they do not have a solid proof that your father really did die that day."

"Excuse me?" Lex's eyes grew bigger. "Do you want to tell me that my father may still be alive?"

"It's very unlikely since he would've had to have some help in pretending to have cancer, he would've had to have a doctor on his side and a lot of other people."

"So, nothing? No one said anything?"

"The doctor died in a shooting a little while after Lionel's death."

"Fuck," Lex cursed and ran his hand over his bald scalp. "I can't fucking believe it! That bastard!"

"Lex, it's been too long. Lionel must be dead now."

"But there's still that uncertainty."

"I'm telling you, he's dead."

They suddenly found themselves in silence.

What had she just done? Chloe thought. Had she destroyed both of their lives?

"I really did love you, Lex," she finally said after a while. "Letting you go like that before we even managed to explore what could've been was the hardest thing I've ever had to do, but I still had to. Not a day passed by that I didn't regret it, but I didn't want you to die, too. My father was enough."

"I understand," he finally said in a quiet voice. "I really do, but it still hurts so much."

"I know. I was hurting as well… I also knew that Lionel was capable of murdering you as well. If he'd known about us, he wouldn't have hesitated back then."

"Yeah, I know… It sucks to have such a bastard for a father, doesn't it? He not only destroyed my mother's life, but also mine… yours… your father…" Lex started counting.

"Don't do this to yourself, Lex." Chloe cupped his face. "You're different, you're the good one. You are not your father and you will never be. You have done enough to prove it and I am so proud of you."

He closed his eyes and put his forehead against hers.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I love you, too," she answered and hugged him, clinging to him desperately.

Lex took her into his tight embrace, burying his face in her hair, feeling her heart beat against his chest, her breath on his neck.

"What is your name now?" he suddenly remembered what he'd wanted to know before. "Did you change it?"

"No," she answered. "I'm officially dead, so Chloe Sullivan simply does not exist. I'm a ghost."

He didn't answer to that. It was too dreadful to even think about.

"What am I supposed to do now?" Chloe asked a moment later, straight into his ear.

"I don't know, but we'll figure it out together," he told her.

His body fully responded to hers, but completely involuntary. He knew he shouldn't have been taking advantage of her now, but he could feel his cock pressing against her belly and the remaining shakes of her body from crying didn't make it better.

But then he noticed that she started doing it intentionally. She was caressing his bald scalp, which made him ever more ready for her. Then she let her hands slip down his back to finally cup his bare butt cheeks.

"God, Chloe…" he moaned and before he even managed to think or stop himself, he started kissing her.

She responded immediately, opening her mouth widely, letting his tongue in.

Lex groaned inside his throat and pushed her against the wall, pulled her dress up and sank into her with one smooth stroke.

Chloe gasped at the sensation, then moaned with pleasure.

He started fucking her like that, against the wall.

"Oh, yes… Lex… more Lex…" she kept saying in between the kisses. Her body grazing against his frantically.

"Love you… love you… Chloe…" he kept saying. "I…" push, "will…" another push, "never…" he kept that rhythm up, "let… you… go… ever… again… GOD!"

"Oh, yes… don't…" she said, feeling her inner muscles responding while Lex hit her G spot. Then she was coming.

And he came with her.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 4

When Chloe walked into her office, she was beaming with happiness.

"Somebody's got a good night," Lana practically snapped at her.

"And somebody has not," Chloe answered back and sat by her desk. "What's wrong?"

"You do realize that you can't see him ever again, do you?" Lana pulled up a chair and situated herself right by her friend's side.

"Lana…" Chloe sighed heavily, feeling something unpleasant twisting in her stomach, but the brunette continued, "We all went through special training that showed us how to make emotions disappear. We are not supposed to fall in love."

"Yeah, I know that!" Chloe got a little agitated. "And I remember how I swore to myself to never fall in love, but… back then I had no idea that fate would bring me and Lex together again."

"Are you even listening to yourself?" Lana rolled her eyes. "You can't expect me to believe that you just saw him last night and all your priorities suddenly changed! Chloe…" Lana leaned closer to her. "I'm worried about you. Maybe you're overworking yourself and…"

"Could you please stay out of my personal life?!" Chloe's good mood was gone.

"There's no such thing as personal life where it comes to people like us." Lana stood up.

"Wait… Lana!" Chloe got to her feet as well and ran after her retreating friend. "Lana…" She looked desperately into her brown eyes. "Please… just please… I'm beginning you do not report this. Please, let it stay between us, ok? I'll deal with it myself."

"Chloe," Now Lana was looking at her with tenderness. "I would never do something like that. You're the only person in my life now that really knows me. You're my friend. Don't worry about my reporting you. I just wanted to make you realize what you're doing. If the CIA finds out, you'll be dead."

"Don't be too dramatic."

"I'm realistic," Lana just said in a gravel tone. "Think about your life. You do want to live it, don't you?" And after having said that, she walked away.

"I don't… not like this," Chloe whispered to herself when looking down at the floor. "I'd been dead for the last ten years."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lex was waiting in a small restaurant in the suburbs. It took him a little too long to get there, but there was nothing that he wouldn't do for Chloe. He understood she had to stay low and make sure no one would see them together. He knew how dangerous the situation was, but he was sure they could figure something out eventually. Maybe nget new identities? Start a completely new life together? Lex was even ready to get rid of LexCorp. Yes, it was his legacy and he'd been running the company for almost ten years now, but it didn't matter. Those years were just a painful blur to him. He'd been brought back to life the previous night and he didn't intend on wasting any more time.

He looked at his watch. Chloe was half an hour late.

There she is, Lex sighed with relief when he noticed her walking in. It was hard to recognize her though because she was wearing a pretty big hat that not only covered half her face but also hid all the hair.

"Lex!" She spotted him and quickly walked over to him. "I'm so sorry for being late. I had to…"

"It's ok." He just smiled and stood up to give her a kiss. "I'm just glad you're here now."

"If it was up to me, I would be here much earlier. I've just had a debrief and then … never mind. Let's order something already. I'm starving!"

"So, what are we going to do?" Lex asked when the waitress took their orders and walked away.

"Honestly, I have no idea," Chloe's voice sounded nearly desperate. "I don't know how to walk away from them. They can track me anywhere. I can't just disappear. They'll find me eventually."

"Chloe," Lex's voice grew tender. He was doing everything in his power to make her feel better. He reached his hand to hers and squeezed gently. "I'm here. Don't worry. We'll get through this together. You just made the first step. You said you wanted an out." He started caressing her smooth palm with his fingers.

"Yeah, but that decision was actually easy. It was either you or the CIA, but now I don't have the slightest clue how to get out."

The waitress brought their food, so they stopped talking for a while and Lex was forced to let go of Chloe's hand.

"I think I may have an idea," he finally spoke when sure that no one was around.

"Shoot," Chloe encouraged him and took a bite of her hamburger.

"We'll fake your dead," Lex said.

"Excuse me?!" She almost choked on her food.

"What's wrong with that plan?"

"You won't cheat them, Lex. I would really have to be dead for them to believe it."

"Can't we just stage some fire or explosion?" he suggested. "Or you could pretend that you died on a mission. Anything explosive coming soon?" he tried to joke, but Chloe wasn't in the mood. In fact, she was very pale and terrified.

"Hey, I'm here and I will not leave you," he reassured her again.

"That's what I'm worried about," she said and he clearly didn't understand. "I'm not worried about me. I'm worried about you. If somebody finds out, you'll be the first one to cancel."

"Cancel?" Lex raised his eyebrows. "Could you please lose that special-agent-tone when you're with me? It does sound… scary."

"You see?"

"Sooner or later, we'll figure something out."

"Better sooner," Chloe said. "Better sooner," she repeated.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twenty minutes later they were both in the backseat of Lex's limo. Luckily for them, it had tinted windows.

Perfect, Chloe thought when straddling Lex's laps while kissing him and shamelessly grazing against the hard bulge in his pants.

"Chloe… Chloe…" he moaned and put his hands on her shoulders, so he could push her away to be able to look her in the eyes. His were foggy from desire.

"Yeah?" she asked seductively.

"If we don't get down to business soon…" he started.

"Sure, Mr. Luthor," she interrupted him and undid his belt and then as fast as she could, she freed his cock.

Lex hissed soundly.

"Oh, yeah… that's much better…" he panted when she started stroking him.

She smiled and positioned herself while putting her panties aside. They didn't have much time that day.

She slowly took him inside, hissing a little because she was still sore from the previous night and then the rough morning.

"And now? Better?" she asked and started kissing his neck when he was all in.

"Yeah… yes… but… Chloe, are you sure? I mean… you're sore…"

"I don't give a damn. I want to feel you."

"I can… do you with my mouth…" he suggested but involuntarily buckled his hips into her and they both moaned.

"No, no need… but I may remind you of that later on," she giggled and started moving up and down, back and forward.

"I love you so much," Lex kept whispering into her ear while they were fucking.

"I love you too… I've always… loved you…"

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lana was standing on the other side of the street, looking at the black limousine and waiting.

Too long, she thought when looking at her watch. They're parking for too fucking long! They must have sex! 

She was almost shaking with rage that had been building inside of her ever since the previous night when she'd seen Chloe in the company of no one else but Lex Luthor.

Why do past always have to haunt us? Lana thought, turned around and walked away.

She reached to her cell phone.

"It's me," she spoke.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Oh, yeah… just like that… do not dare stop!" Chloe was wriggling wantonly on a hotel's bed while Lex was working on her – as he promised – with his mouth.

"God, you're talented!" she screamed and had to grab the bed frame.

Lex's tongue was now inside of her, doing something so amazing that she couldn't quite process it. She just focused on the feeling of it.

And then he put his finger there, too and stroke her from the inside while sucking on her clit.

"Oh, God… I-I'm gonna… LEX!" she screamed the last word before her body shook in a powerful climax.

Lex kept his work up until all her spasms subsided, then he wiped his face with the sheet and lay right next to her.

"That was amazing," she whispered to his ear and then kissed his lips.

"Thank you." He smiled to her.

"And what are we going to do with you now, hah?" she asked playfully, pointing his evident and now painful erection.

"Well, if you don't feel up to it, we can just…"

"Not up to it? Are you kidding?" Without any more words she got to his cock and took it into her mouth.

She really did love all of Lex.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Can I talk to you?" The next day Chloe decided. She would take Lex's offer. She would let him fake her death. He was right. All they had to do was to only stage a fire or explosion. The CIA wouldn't have any evidence that Chloe Sullivan was actually alive and well. They would think she burned or was ripped apart. Her only concern was dental records, but Lex assured her that thanks to his genetic experimentation he would be able to fool everybody. Chloe chose not to think about that kind of research. Lex didn't tell her everything, but she was pretty sure that LexCorp would soon be able to clone people. Now they could create parts, dead bodies with nothing inside the brain, but in some time…

It was a good thing that she and Lex himself were leaving that old life behind to start a new one. They would have so much money that they wouldn't have to work another day in their life, their financial interest would be enough.

There was only one thing left to do.

Chloe had to talk to Lana.

"Chloe, is everything all right?" Lana asked, pretty concerned. "Is it about…?" her voice trailed off significantly.

"Yes. I have to talk to you, but not here. Can we go for a walk?" Chloe suggested.

She just couldn't let Lana believe that she was dead. She knew that her brunette friend could be a little difficult sometimes, but most of the times she was the only friend Chloe had had for a very long time, the only person Chloe could turn to and could really trust. Years of working together had done the trick. And Chloe really did trust her.

"I'm leaving, Lana," Chloe finally dared say when they were both outside.

"Excuse me?" Lana raised her eyebrows in surprise and gaped at her friend.

"There's no future for me here and I hate this work. I hate being an agent. One day I'll just… well, die, probably in action and that will be it. My life. Gone. And it won't have any sense."

"It will. You know how many people we save every single day!"

"I do, but I was thinking about others all my life. I never actually thought about what I wanted and when I finally knew what I wanted, I was too afraid of the risk. I can't live like that any longer, Lana. Life is too short for that."

"You can't quit. They won't let you."

"I know, but there are other ways of getting out."

"Like what?"

"I can't tell you anything more. I just want you to know that… whatever happens… I will be happy, Lana. Don't you every worry about me. Just… please, accept my decision." Chloe put her arms around her friend to hug her and then she just walked away.

She never intended on telling Lana the details. As much as it pained her, she just couldn't trust her that much. It wasn't only about her anyway, it was also about Lex.

It was decided, Chloe Sullivan would die in her next mission.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On the way to her apartment to pack, Chloe took her brand new and untraceable cell phone and dialed Lex's number.

Strange, she thought when he didn't pick up. Maybe he's busy. He'll probably call me back soon. After putting her mind at rest, Chloe walked up the stairs and entered her apartment.

Lex told her to take only the most needed stuff and leave the rest. They had money, so it wasn't a problem.

Chloe got to her bedroom and opened her wardrobe. She had to have a pair of clothes, some underwear, personal cosmetics…

In the middle of putting her stuff into her journey bag, she stilled.

She could've sworn she heard something.

Years of working for the CIA trained her, schooled her senses. She knew that if she felt something was wrong, it mean it usually was.

Slowly, careful as not to make any suspicious movements, she grabbed her bag and got to the window. She could easily got out through the fire escape.

When she was half way there, a masked man strode inside and immediately jumped to her.

She was faster though, she was already running down the stairs.

Faster, Chloe, faster! Lex! You have to get to Lex and make sure he's all right! NOW! She kept telling herself.

She heard a gunfire and instinctively covered her head.

Only a little… only one floor left…

She jumped and found herself rolling on the ground.

The man chasing her, must have orders to bring her in alive, because he wasn't aiming at her. He just wanted to scare her and get her off her track.

She wouldn't let him, she decided while getting on her feet and running as fast as she could.

She managed to catch a taxi and drive away.

Thank God for that!

But what now? Someone was after her, but she didn't have proof that the CIA found out about what she was going to do though. Lana wouldn't tell them, no, Chloe knew she could trust the woman. Lana wouldn't betray her like that, she wouldn't have a valid reason to. She'd sooner fake her own death. So who, then? Did somebody find out about Chloe being a secret agent? Or that somebody had simply been following Lex since he was connected to Lionel… and Lionel to the CIA.

Shit, shit, fuck! 

"Can't you go any faster?!" Chloe snapped at the poor taxi driver.

"Miss, there are rules here! I can't lose my license!"

"I'll pay you extra!"

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When she got to Lex's hotel room, it was already too late.

She could tell he'd been taken because the apartment was a mess. There were signs of struggle.

Chloe could just look at the broken pieces of furniture - evidence of a fight - and keep shaking.

"Lex…" finally escaped her mouth and her knees buckled under her.

She had no idea who, how or why. She didn't even know where they'd taken him.

She couldn't lose him. Not again. Not like this.

She had only one hope left.

"Lana?" Chloe spoke to her cell phone when the brunette picked up. "Lana! They took Lex!"

"What? What are you talking about?"

"They took him! We were about to run away today and they… somebody was after me and…"

"Chloe, I have no idea what you expect me to do since you're the one who screwed up!"

"What?" Chloe was left baffled. "I don't… don't understand."

"You betrayed the CIA," Lana said. "And if they find out that I'm even talking to you, I'll be in serious trouble!"

"What do you mean? How they find out so quickly? Did you tell them?" Chloe had to ask but couldn't believe Lana would do something like that.

"No, of course not! And no, it's not because you want an out. They have some valid proof that you betrayed them! I don't have enough clearance to know what it is, but it has nothing to do with you and Lex."

"I don't… I don't understand," Chloe just repeated. She felt so powerless, so out of it. She couldn't understand what was going on. "Lana, I didn't do anything, I swear."

"If they're sure you did then I don't know what to say to that. Chloe, I do care about you, you know that, but my hands are tied up now. The only way to straight it up is if you just give yourself in and…"

"I can't."

Chloe hung up. She couldn't wrap her mind around all of this. She was numb to all Lana's pleads, even if they seemed reasonable. Only guilty people ran away, didn't they?

Had she really done something? Or maybe somebody was just playing her.

She knew one thing: she couldn't come back to CIA now. She had to at least try to find Lex first, then if he… if he…

She could barely could even think about it. If something happened to… then she would give herself in.

This was what everybody had always her about: never ever get into a relationship, because the closer you are with the person, the bigger the risk.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Two hours later, Chloe left the hotel.

She'd looked everywhere, run through everything, every little piece in Lex's apartment to find something, anything, but she'd found nothing. She knew only one thing - whoever had taken Lex was a professional.

She stood at the sidewalk, not really knowing what to do next. She had to get out of sight before they would find her again, but where she should go? She'd already asked in the reception of the hotel, they didn't know anything about Lex.

Suddenly, her cell phone rang. She picked it up as fast as she could. Maybe it was Lex. Maybe it all had been staged. Maybe he'd had to disappear as well. That didn't explain the fuss in the CIA quarter, but she wouldn't care. She and Lex could still fake…

"Lex?!" she asked, her voice full of hope.

"No, but if you help me, I may help you," she heard a male voice.

"Who are you?!"


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 5

"Who are you?!" Chloe repeated, getting more and more nervous with every single second.

"Do you see a black car parked on the other side of the street?" she heard instead of an answer.

"Yeah," she sighed while spotting the vehicle. "Tinted windows?"

"Exactly. Now, go into the back seat and let the driver take you from there. Do not ask any questions. Understood?"

"You've got to be kidding me!" she huffed. "I'm not getting into a car driven by a complete stranger! For all I know you might kill me or you might just be the very same person I'm running from!"

"Do you want to see your lover alive?" the voice said. "I am not the one who took him, but I know where he's being kept. You do not have much time left before they start torturing him."

"Fuck," Chloe cursed under her breath.

And she had to get out of sight like right now!

"What do you have to lose?" that one last question made her decide.

She had nothing to lose. She needed help. She couldn't find Lex alone. Maybe she would manage, but no when she had to hide from the CIA in the same time.

What had her life become? She'd been running ten years ago and she was running again with a slight difference that now she had no idea why she was being chased.

"Ok," she uttered, finished the call and walked to the other side of the street.

She opened the back door of the car and got in.

As the man had told her, she did not speak during the whole ride. She was just silently praying she'd made the right choice when trusting the stranger.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chloe was taken to slums on the outskirts of the city and as soon as she saw the building that she was probably to go into, she was glad that she had a gun with her.

"Get out," the driver spoke for the first time and Chloe just did what he told her without uttering a word.

She slowly made her way towards the door guarded by two bulky men.

Her first impression was that they were gangsters, maybe from mafia and she probably wasn't that far from the truth.

"Gun." One of them reached his hand to her and held it until she would give him her weapon.

"Don't worry, you won't be harmed in any way," she heard a voice coming from the inside of the building. She matched it with the one heard on the phone earlier.

She sighed and very reluctantly placed her gun in the hand of the man.

"Will I get it back?" she asked.

"Sure, as soon as you'll be free to go," she heard coming from the inside again.

Free to go, she pondered over those words. That clearly meant she wouldn't be leaving when she would want to. She was dependant on that man now and didn't like it at all.

It's for Lex, she told herself and walked inside.

She was welcomed by a muscular, blonde and very handsome man.

"Oliver Queen," she raised her eyebrows in surprise. She knew him, of course she knew him! He was one of the most powerful drug dealers in the country and the CIA was doing its best to destroy his business from the inside. It was obvious that taking out one man would not change anything.

"Well, well, so I am well known," he smirked at her and gestured to the room on his right.

"Why would you want to help me?" Chloe asked. "What's in it for you? I'm obviously on the run here, so I can't do anything in the CIA."

"No, you can't, but there's one small thing I would like to know," he said and kept smiling to her in a way that made her feel uncomfortable. He thought he had the world in his grasp, that he was untouchable. Maybe he was even right at the moment, Chloe thought. Oliver was one of the top wanted men and the CIA was working very hard to gather enough proof and to infiltrate him to be able to put an end to lots of illegal dealings. Added to that, Oliver's recent expansion which involved selling dangerous weaponry pretty much explained why he needed to be destroyed.

"Shoot," Chloe encouraged him, tired of everything. She was tired of her life, of those ten wasted years, tired of what she was doing. Had she made the right choice? Maybe she should've just given in to that witness protection program and found Lex once it all died down. Maybe there was no danger coming from Lionel anymore. Maybe he really was dead. Maybe she was being chased by ghosts. Or paranoid.

"I know that you're on a track," Oliver continued. "I know that the CIA is pretty close to taking down one of my major suppliers units and I also know that there's a mole somewhere. You tell me who that is and I will tell you where you can find Luthor."

"And how can you possibly know where Lex is?" Chloe asked. It was a hard decision, she knew it. It was… a betrayal. Betrayal of not only the agency she was working for, but betrayal of her country, of her people. How many would be dead because of her? She knew there were two moles in Queen's staff, but could she just tell him who they were? They would certainly be killed. Or maybe one killed and the other tortured and then send back to Langley with a message. Could she really do it?

On the other hand, she wanted it to just end. She didn't want to keep sacrificing her own happiness, her future for others. Could she be selfish just this once?

Only if Oliver really knew where Lex was, she had to save him. He had nothing to do with it. She'd done nothing but hurt him and then hurt him even more. He didn't deserve this. She shouldn't have done this to him.

And now it was too late.

Oliver was watching her face closely with a known look on his own. He could tell she was fighting herself, being torn between her loyalty towards the country and love for one man.

He smirked again.

"I know where Luthor is, because recently a new player's appeared in the city."

"Really? Who is it?" Chloe's curiosity took the better of her again. After all, she'd once dreamt of becoming a reporter. It was just another dream that had been painfully squashed by the devil in human flesh – Lionel Luthor.

"I don't know yet, but I'm doing everything I can to indentify this man. He hides himself well."

"So how do you…?" Chloe started, but was immediately interrupted by Oliver.

"My men spotted Luthor being taken. They followed the car and I have a precise location for you. Unfortunately, the leader wasn't there, so I'll just continue snooping. Now… have you made your choice?"

"How did you even contact me?" she asked. "How on earth do you know so much?"

"Well, let's just say that I have more gifted hackers than the CIA," the answer came. "In fact… I know pretty much about you… Chloe Sullivan."

Chloe gasped. It couldn't be real! This was reality, not some spy movie!

"You won't let me out of here if I don't give you the names, will you?" she asked him.

"Names, hah?"

Shit, shit, fuck! Chloe cursed in her thoughts.

"Well, that just keeps getting more and more interesting, but… do I have to remind you that the more time you spend here playing with me, the more pain your beloved one experiences?"

Chloe shivered.

"And to answer your question, no, I will not let you out of here free. You help me, I help you. You don't help me, I send a message to the CIA through… you… or your body. We'll see."

Chloe could sense his hungry gaze on her and it disgusted her.

"Ted and Brandon," she just said.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. I'm not lying. Those two are your moles."

Oliver smiled broadly at her.

"You see? It wasn't that hard," he said. "Now…" he reached to the back pocket of his jeans. "Here you go." He handed her a small sheet of paper. "That's the address. Better hurry. We want to see you two happy, aren't we? Better to save him on time."

Chloe quickly snatched the paper from him and without saying anything more she hurried towards the door.

"Chloe!" Oliver followed her. "You can take this car." She looked back at him to see what he was pointing at. "It's stolen, so when you're done, just leave it on some street with keys in the ignition, ok?"

She kept looking at him, stunned.

"What?" He beamed at her. "You really did me a great favor, so now consider us even."

"Thanks," she just said, took the keys from his hand, then her gun from the man by the door and got into the car. She started the engine and didn't look back.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Half an hour later, Chloe stopped the car. She decided to hide it in the woods on the long gone path and take a walk from there. Anything else would be just too suspicious and Lex's life was at stake.

Very carefully, she got closer.

It was a small cottage, probably bought to spend some time surrounded by nature instead of the lights and the traffic of a city, but now it looked abandoned.

A perfect place to hide somebody, crossed Chloe's mind.

Just when she reached the back of it, she heard a car engine nearby. Somebody was just leaving.

Unfortunately, Chloe couldn't take a good look at the person behind the wheel.

Right after the car disappeared, her thoughts flew away from it because she heard a scream.

A scream of pain coming from no one else but Lex.

Her heart ached painfully and without thinking she just rushed forward and looked through the window.

She could see Lex tired up to a chair and half naked with a bag put over his head. There were two men in the room with him, doing…

Chloe had to look away from Lex's hand.

She had to do something! She had to do something now! She couldn't let the person she loved suffer like that!

A second later she burst through the door, holding a gun in her hands.

She took the moment of surprise while the men turned and gaped at her.

"Wha…?" one of them started, but Chloe just pointed and fired. Pointed and fired.

Soon, they were lying dead on the floor.

It wasn't the first time she'd gotten rid of somebody, so she didn't think much about it. She'd been trained to shut down her emotions and those men had definitely had it coming.

Only the training didn't helped her when it came to love, she thought.

But love opened her heart again, made her feel once more, made her alive again... and it was all worth it.

"Lex…" she moaned silently as she took a better look at him.

Maybe it wasn't that bad. Maybe Chloe had seen worse in her career, but watching the person she loved without a shirt on and with an obvious burn on his chest that had probably come from boiling water and his right hand without two fingernails…

She just snapped and started crying.

"Chloe?" Lex asked.

"Honey, oh, honey," she kept on whispering and took the bag from his head.

His face was tired, bathed in sweat as well as the rest of his body, eyes bloodshed, but still he looked at her with a glimpse of happiness in those blue-grey depths. Happiness on seeing her.

"Oh, Lex… I am… so, so… sorry," she stammered and gently untied him.

He didn't stand up though. Instead Chloe just squatted by him and carefully put her hand on his laps. She didn't want to cause him more pain by touching other parts of him.

"You… came…" was all he uttered.

"I'm sorry I'm so late." She was sobbing now and kept looking into his eyes. She couldn't look at his hand nor his chest. Not now. She would do that later when she would have to dress those wounds.

"No, you're just in time. Thank you for coming… What-what happened?"

"I have no idea," she quickly told him about her betrayal and her deal with Queen. "It was the only way, though I feel like crap for doing it. Only I feel even more terrible while seeing you like this."

"Don't worry… about it," he hissed while straightening his back. "It could've been much worse."

"Well, actually that's true, honey. I came just in time. I can't even think about what would've happened if I'd…" she stopped while reminiscing about all the tortured victims she'd seen in the past.

"Yeah, two fingernails less and a little burn won't break me."

"Did you see them?" Chloe asked. "Were they CIA?"

"I have no idea. All I saw… well, my head was down and I-I had that bag over it… but I saw female heels. That's it. A female was here. I got the impression that she was in charge. She didn't say a word in front of me though. She left just a moment ago."

"I saw her car, but couldn't catch anything more. Damn it!" Chloe cursed. "Honey, I'm sorry, but we have to go. She might come back."

"I know," he sighed heavily and slowly got to his feet, wincing slightly.

"Can you make it to the car? I parked nearby."

"Yeah, I think I'll manage. Don't make me so incapacitated."

She reached his face and kissed him softly on the lips.

"That's much better," he whispered and kissed her back, sliding his tongue into her mouth.

They couldn't get into more heated session because that would involve him putting his arms around her and grazing his chest against her. It wasn't a good idea. Besides, he was exhausted.

"You need your shirt. Where is it?" Chloe asked.

"Torn," he pointed the floor. "They ripped it off of me."

"Sorry."

"It's ok. Where can we go?"

"I may have an idea… I saw a motel by the road. We can stay for the night and then… then…" She ran out of ideas.

"Then we'll fake your death. And mine," Lex finished.

"I hope they'll believe."

"They will. We'll leave an undeniable proof. Let's just blow up the motel."

"Only if there'll be no people in there," Chloe pointed out.

"Well, of course."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 6

"Ouch," Lex hissed again.

"I'm sorry," Chloe repeated, "but I have to dress this wound. The last thing we need right now is an infection requiring hospitalization."

"No, no hospitals! We can't right now!" he raised his voice as thought that could help him for the pain.

"Take another sip," Chloe stopped applying a special ointment on his chest for a moment and reached for the bottle of scotch they'd bought on the way to a motel.

Lex took it without question and started drinking.

"Just be careful, we still need to talk. You have to have a clear mind," Chloe said warningly on remembering those two painkillers Lex had swallowed back in the car.

"I never get sick. You think this will affect me? It's nothing. I would have to drink the whole bottle, maybe even two." He sounded annoyed.

"Don't snap at me. I know all about your magnificent immunity to sickness, but you've also taken painkillers."

"Chloe…" he begun and hissed when she started working on him again, "trust me. I know what I'm capable of. I tried a whole bunch of stuff in my younger days…"

"No need to tell me that. I'm sure the gossip column suffered a lot after you stopped and moved to Smallville," she teased. "There! Done!"

"Thanks," he said and immediately pulled her into a kiss.

She was willing and kissed him back, but she remembered to be careful and didn't touch his chest.

"Ok." She pulled away a moment later. "We really do need to talk. You have to focus and remember anything you might've missed."

"Chloe, I've already told you everything I know," he said when sighing with disappointment.

"Yeah, but something's still missing here."

"And what that would be?"

"Why did they take you? To gain information?"

"They didn't ask any questions."

"You see? This is just… weird." Chloe bit her lip while thinking hard. "It doesn't make any sense. You know, Queen told me about a new player in town, so it couldn't be the CIA. Why would somebody else take you? Do you have some enemies here? Somebody who might want to hurt you?"

"Chloe, you are the one on the run."

"I know, but maybe it's a coincidence… maybe someone is after you, too," she suggested. "There's really no other explanation."

"I don't think so. I'm clean. After my father died I stayed away from dirty business."

"So they just started…" the word 'torture' didn't want to get through her throat.

"Yeah," Lex confirmed, knowing exactly what she had in mind.

"Without any questions?"

"Exactly. Chloe, what is it?" He leaned closer, looking her deeply in the eyes.

"There could be only one valid explanation for all of this. Somebody took you to find me, but if they'd really wanted that, they would've started asking questions before…" she stopped again.

"Oh, come on! It's just a little burn and two little fingernails. It's not like I was really tortured!" Lex said to make her feel better.

"That's how it always starts," she told him. "Thank God I got there in time."

"So, you're suggesting that somebody just wanted to kill me and make me suffer before I die?" Lex asked so casually like he was asking about the weather.

Chloe shivered.

"Yes," she said and looked down, suddenly feeling cold, so she hugged herself.

"Hey," Lex awkwardly pulled her to his side, careful not to disturb his injuries. "It's gonna be all right. I promise. We'll make it. We will always make it while together."

"Yeah, I guess so… We don't have any choice, do we?" she asked, looking up at his face and then placing a soft kiss on the side of his jaw.

"What do you say for something more… tension releasing?" His eyes sparkled and he kissed her more fiery.

"Lex, you should rest now," she pulled away again. "And I mean it."

"You don't have to touch my chest to have sex with me," he told her.

"I know, but… seriously, get some rest. We can rethink it when you'll wake up."

"I take your word for that." He smiled at her mischievously.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chloe woke up with a wet feeling between her legs. What more, she was so aroused that she needed an immediate release.

She moaned loudly and opened her eyes.

Then she realized what was happening.

"Lex?" she asked totally bewildered because his fingers were just stroking her intimately. "Lex, what are you doing?!" she snapped at him and looked right where he was lying next to her on the bed.

"I had the impression that you liked it," he said cockily, but removed his hand.

A moan of disappointment immediately left Chloe's mouth and Lex chuckled.

"How long you've been working on me, then?" she asked and moved closer to kiss him while her hand wandered down to his pants. "Hmm…" she hummed when she touched him, "pretty long, I guess." He was very hard.

"God, Chloe…" his mouth parted in a muffled gasp.

"I guess we have to remove the pants then," she said and unzipped his fly.

"Yeah… that's much better, but still… not enough," Lex uttered when his cock sprung free.

"Wait… what about your chest? Any pain?" Chloe's voice suddenly got more serious when she remembered about his injuries.

"It's better. Much better," he said and kissed her again while she kept stroking his cock. "I have… really… good… immunity…" he said between his descending kisses. "I always… recover… quickly…" he added with his mouth on the mound of her breast.

"But you didn't recover completely," she noticed.

"That is why you'll be the one on top."

"Do you always have an answer ready?" she asked while changing her position, so she was now straddling him.

"Oh, yess… yess…" He probably meant to say it only once, but in that very moment she found herself sitting on top of him, grazing the already wet panties she slept in against his cock.

"Get that out of the way," he complained about the fabric that was still between them.

"As you wish," she said and maneuvered herself again, so she could take it off.

"Now, all better." He was satisfied when she finally lowered herself onto him, taking him inside.

"Much… muchhh better…" she moaned on feeling him already buried deep inside.

"Move, love," he told her.

"Mhmm…" came from her lips as she began to ride him. "How would you like it?" she asked, locking her eyes with his.

"Hard," the answer came.

Something in his eyes lit her on fire again. They were burning her even though they were blue-grey. And those colors were not supposed to be warm. They supposed to be like steel or ice.

"Yes!" Chloe exclaimed when she begun riding him faster and harder. "Oh, yes!" In this position he was filling her whole, her breasts were jiggling and she couldn't touch his chest, which made her movements a little awkward, but it was nonetheless amazing for them both.

"You… are… so beau… tiful…" Lex managed to utter while watching her with such burning desire that she wanted to just melt into a pool of goo on the floor.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"They won't buy it!" Chloe complained when they finally found themselves in the needed distance from the motel.

"What? What wouldn't they?" he asked. "We got here, took the very last condo room, the gas leaked and… boom, we're gone. There was no one in the next room, so we were the only ones killed. The reception still stands because it was in the right distance. Everything's perfect."

"Maybe a little bit too perfect, don't you think? It looks like a set up!" Chloe kept voicing her concerns.

"Yes, but then they'll find proof. The remains. Our bodies are there," Lex pointed the small building, "and they will burn in a moment. We would have to have twins to fool them."

Chloe sighed heavily.

"I just… it's just… I can't believe it can be that easy," Chloe sighed. "In a couple of minutes we'll be able to start a new life."

"It is that easy, love." Lex put his hands on her arms and looked her in the eye. "It is that easy," he repeated. "Trust me. No one knows about my genetic research. No one knows that I'm able to copy a human body. The rest of my research is now destroyed. There's nothing left but those two clones in bed in that room," he nodded in the direction of the motel. "You push the button and we're free." He handed her over the detonator.

Chloe wasn't stupid, she made sure it was really a gas leak. She was excellent in faking such accidents.

"Ok, here we go..." And just like that, she pushed it and their room was ripped to pieces in a small explosion.

Lex took her hand, not even a little surprised with her sudden action, and pulled her towards the woods. They would walk for a while to the place when they had their car ready.

And then they would just… go.

Be free.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One month later 

"GOD! LEX!" Chloe came again while screaming his name loudly and shamelessly.

"Yes… yes! Chloe… love!" He soon followed her and then collapsed into her embrace.

They were lying there, body to body, entwined, breathing heavily, not willing to move.

"God… that was… good…" Chloe panted into his ear and stroke his skull wet from perspiration.

"Good? Only good?!" she heard an immediate response. "I made you come three times!"

She giggled.

"I love driving you crazy!"

"Oh, how well do I know this," he sighed and finally gathered enough strength to rise his body from hers. His softened cock slid out of her and Lex lay on the bed right next to her.

She immediately scooted over to him, placing her head on his chest and he put his arms around her.

They were just lying there, resting after such exertion of their bodies.

"I never want to get up from this bed ever again," she said after a moment.

"Me neither. All I want to do is to just be here with you and keep making love."

"God, is that the only thing you think about? Like some horny teenager."

"You say it like it's not on your mind all the time, too!"

She chuckled.

Yes, he was right.

"Chloe…" suddenly his voice got more serious.

"Yes?"

"What would you say… would you consider…"

"Just say it, Lex," she encouraged him while pulling away a little to raise her head and look into his eyes. She was sensing what it might be that he wanted to ask her.

"Would you consider… becoming my wife… sometime in the future?" he finally finished that sentence. "I know. I should've taken you to some fancy restaurant and ask there, but I still can," he added quickly.

"No." She shook her head.

"No?" He felt scared and hurt. Did she just…

"I mean no, you don't have to take me to some fancy restaurant," she corrected quickly and he released a breath that he didn't even realize he was holding. "That is what the old you would do. I love the new one better. I always loved you, but recently… I just feel like my heart can burst any moment. I never thought it was possible to love somebody that much and yet every day I love you more and more."

"So your answer is…" he prompted. His heart was racing even when he knew it wasn't necessary. He knew what her answer would be.

"Yes, Lex Luthor, I will marry you," Chloe said and smiled at him broadly.

He sealed that with a kiss.

"And just so you know, I love you more and more every day, too," he added.

"That's nice to hear."

"Just nice?" He cocked one eyebrow at her and she giggled again.

"You know, I don't want to impose or something… but don't you have something for me?" she asked. "I mean… you just… unless you didn't think you would and it came out all spontaneous. I can live with that. It's romantic."

"I have to disappoint you, my love," Lex smiled at her and got out of bed, "because I do have a ring for you. I've had it from some time now, but I've been waiting for the right moment."

"So you had to use three orgasms to make me agree to marry you?" she teased him, watching his butt while he was putting his pants on.

"We'll talk about it when I'll make you come four or more times," he said and turned to her, raising his eyebrows when he noticed where her eyes had been just a second before. "Naughty girl."

"You have no idea," she kept that banter up. "And though I can't believe even Lex Luthor can make woman orgasms more than three times, I'm willing to check. Just in case."

"Ring first," he said and walked out of the bedroom.

Chloe suddenly felt very hungry, which shouldn't surprise her after so much physical exertion, so she got up as well and once she put her clothes on, she followed Lex.

"Lex?" she asked. "Where are you?"

Then she heard something. She couldn't place that commotion yet, but years of practice had taught her when to ignore something like this and when not to.

This was certainly one of the latter.

She walked into the living room and in the same moment she heard a body collapsing.

She jerked to a stop on seeing Lex lying on the floor. He wasn't hurt, but there was a dart sticking out of his neck.

Paralyzer, Chloe thought, horrified.

There were two men in the room.

"Chloe! RUN!" Lex screamed while he still could speak.

She knew that he couldn't move. She knew there was no way she could save him while those men had guns and she saw even more of them coming from the garden.

Then the front door opened.

She looked at his beloved one once more, seeing in his eyes everything he wasn't able to utter at the moment: Chloe, I love you. I love you. Just run. Save yourself. RUN!

So she listened.

She didn't even get to see her engagement ring.

She turned away and got back to the bedroom as fast as she could, barely avoiding the shot that came after her.

She got to the trap door hidden in the floor and soon was in the tunnels.

They were after her, but she took them by surprise. Besides, it was kind of a maze down there and she was the only one beside Lex who knew where to go to get out.

Soon, she was free and out in the open, standing just by the garage.

Next, she broke the flowerpot and took a key.

"I will find you," she said out loud when she got into the car and started the engine. "I will always find you, Lex. Just believe it and wait. Please, please, hold on."

She knew she was the one they wanted, so they wouldn't kill him. They would expect her to break him out.

And that was exactly what she would do, only with the slight difference that she would succeed.

End of part 1


	8. Chapter 8

Part 2

Chapter 7

The door to a small dark room with a Venetian mirror opened and a tall dark haired woman walked inside.

She came over to a man sitting in a chair with a bag put over his head, his hands tied up.

"Wake up," she said while taking the bag.

Lex moaned quietly as he began to regain his consciousness. The last thing he remembered was telling Chloe to escape. He couldn't move… the paralyzer… Who were those people that had broken them apart once more? He wondered.

He'd had no chance against them. He'd left the bedroom to get Chloe's engagement ring and something had just stuck in his neck. The last thing he'd be able to do was to hide the ring in his pocket.

Now his whole body was prickling as the feeling was slowly returning. He felt pain in his wrists where he was tied up to a chair, numbness in his limbs and really bothering dryness in his mouth. It'd been a long time since his life had been in danger. Those were the years when he'd been living and working in Smallville, when Chloe had still been there, when his father had still been alive.

"Come on, Lex, wake up. We don't have a whole day," he heard a very hostile but yet very familiar voice.

He managed to raise his head and after blinking a couple of times, he finally saw her clearly.

"Lana?" he asked, totally bewildered. He quickly looked around. It must've been some interrogation room. "Where am I?" he asked sharply, fighting against the ties binding him.

"Don't bother. You only cause yourself more pain," she said dryly and while circling the table that was there between two chairs, she took the free one across from Lex.

He looked at her again, still shocked.

She wasn't the same person he remembered from Smallville. That Lana had been kind and warm, she'd been his business partner and he wouldn't have agreed to it in the first place if she'd been so cold and uncaring then.

"What happened to you?" he asked before uttering the question he really wanted to know the answer for. Still, he was afraid of it. "Where am I? Where's Chloe?!" he finally inquired.

"Lex, calm down," Lana said, her voice unchanged. "You're in the CIA's interrogation room. We took you in."

As soon as she confirmed that, he felt scared. That was exactly what had happened to Lana herself before. And the only way out of this was… Lex didn't even want to think about it.

"Where's Chloe?!" he just repeated.

He suddenly couldn't understand why Chloe always spoke of Lana with so much affection when in reality the girl turned out to be very cold. It wasn't Lana anymore, it was somebody else in her body.

"Lex, Chloe is our enemy now," Lana finally answered.

"What the fuck are you talking about?! She didn't betray anyone!" Lex snapped.

"Watch your language and better calm down. They don't like screaming or talking back here."

"They?" asked Lex and his eyes found a mirror. Venetian, crossed his mind. Somebody was listening.

"Lana, I promise you, Chloe didn't do anything. Well, beside faking her own death, but you already know about that one, don't you? How did you even find out anyway?"

"We knew about your genetic research and Chloe herself told me not to believe anything I would see. She gave me a hint that she would be ok."

"Found out from whom?! And you betrayed her?! Why?! She was your best friend!"

"She betrayed us all first. You may think you know everything, Lex, but in fact you know nothing. You were so blinded by your love for her, so happy that she was alive that you probably overlooked everything else. Chloe isn't the same person you used to know as well as I am not. You can see it now, can't you? You see how much I've changed."

"Chloe haven't," Lex said stubbornly.

"Really?" Lana's eyebrows elevated and she leaned closer. "Do you realize how many people she's killed already? She's an agent, Lex. She was trained not to show any feelings, trained to lose herself, to lose all the love she had inside."

"She didn't lose it. I know her. She remained the same!"

"Still blinded." Lana just shook her head.

"WHERE IS SHE?!" Lex screamed his question again and struggled in his chair, his face contorted in pain when the ties cut his circulation off.

"She escaped," Lana finally said, "and you know that. And to avoid answering your next question, no, we haven't caught her yet, but we will very soon."

"How can you believe she's just betrayed you all?"

"I can't," Lana answered truthfully and for the first time Lex could sense some hint of worry in her voice, "but she has. We have proof. Undeniable proof. Chloe is the enemy here, not the CIA, Lex."

"She just wanted to leave, to have a normal life."

"She disowned that when she was recruited and it was her choice."

"Still, I…"

"Lex, can you prove it?" Lana asked with hope in her eyes. "Can you prove it was a set up? Can you point somebody out?"

"No." He looked down. What was awaiting him finally dawned in him and it terrified him. The only chance he and Chloe had was to fake their deaths, but this had already been done and nothing good had come out of it. They wouldn't be able to do it again, they wouldn't fool anybody.

"Lex, you are here because you were with Chloe and obviously you know too much. The other reason is that you may know something. Is there anything you would like to add? Anything that could help you or her?" Lana prompted again.

"No," he sighed. "There's nothing… What happens to me now?" He raised his head again, his blue-grey eyes locking with Lana's dark ones.

"You know the drill," she said and stood up. "Recruitment or witness protection, but in your case either won't be easy and you certainly haven't deserved the second. First we have to check you up, send you to training."

"Recruitment? Really? Do I have the potential?" Lex raised his eyebrows at that.

"Oh, yes, you most certainly do," Lana said. "You always have. Besides, we need you."

"Then I choose that," Lex agreed. Maybe this way he would see Chloe again. She was the only thing he cared about, the only thing he lived for, so he wouldn't be forced to let that go ever again. Yes, his situation was nearly hopeless, but he wouldn't give up. He didn't care about the fucking CIA's regulations. He would do anything in his power to be with Chloe and to give her the ring he still had by his side.

He would fight till his last breath, he decided in the end.

And if things ended tragically, he always had revenge.

"Wait…" he suddenly realized what Lana had just said. "You need me? For what? I won't help you find Chloe!"

"We need you because of this…" Lana said, smiling at him and pacing some paper on the table right in front of him.

Lex looked at it and stopped breathing.

It was a newspaper with a headline: Lionel Luthor comes back from the dead.

"What?!" uttered Lex and moved forward to grasp the paper before he remembered he wasn't physically able to.

"Don't worry. I will fill you in," Lana smiled at him again, but it was a rather false smile. "Lionel didn't die."

"I can see that. He was the one who told you about my genetic research, wasn't he?"

"Precisely. He was alive the whole time and only a few agents knew about it."

"I don't understand…" Lex gave up and fell back into his chair, feeling instant relief in his wrists.

"CIA faked his death, so in fact your father was helping us all this time. You have no idea how many people was put into jail because of him."

"So… you gave him his freedom in exchange for… more people behind bars?"

"It turned out that Lionel had pretty important info about even more dangerous criminals than he was himself."

"Of course he did," Lex just sighed. "What now?"

"He's running LuthorCorp again."

"Kind of figured that," Lex had given up his company, so all his father had to do was to buy it back or… just take it while blackmailing somebody. "How can you do something like that? He tried to kill Chloe! He killed her father!" Lex screamed. "She was recruited so she could put him down and you just did the same to him?! You destroyed her life!"

"Lionel was sentenced thanks to Chloe, but after that he decided to share his info with the government. We underestimated his power. He was more useful to us free than in prison. You should also remember that when Chloe got in, Lionel was still on the loose. CIA was the best thing that happened to her."

All of this was just too much for Lex. He felt like his mind was going into overload, causing him to feel slightly dazed.

"We need you because you know your father best. He doesn't know about your whereabouts. We did not confirm that you were actually alive."

"Can't you just kill him?"

"No, CIA made a promise and he was given an immunity… You will be put into isolation now," Lana informed him. "I can't tell you how long you'll spend there, but we have to deal with Chloe first."

"By isolation you mean prison?" Lex asked, tired of everything.

Lana just smirked at him and left the room.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An hour later, Lex was put into his prison. It was much more comfortable than he imagined, but no bed, access to a fridge or decent bathroom would make up for the absence of Chloe.

He just lay down and reached to his pocket, retrieving Chloe's ring and kept staring at it.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One minute he'd been there, right by her side, embracing her, kissing her. She could feel the warm coming from his body. He'd proposed and of course she'd said yes and then… then he'd been taken away from her again. They'd been brutally ripped apart once again.

Put yourself the fuck together, Chlo! She told herself while driving.

She kept wiping off the tears that refused to stop flowing.

She had to be strong for him. She mustn't think about the way his eyes had been pleading her to leave him there, in their new house, to just run and to save herself.

She knew it was their best option. They wouldn't have been able to stay together when taken into custody, but it still felt so wrong to just leave him there. Chloe's heart just ached.

She'd thought they would be able to live happily ever after, that maybe someday they would even have kids. She should've known that it'd been all too good to be true! She should've known when disappearing had turned out to be so easy!

How the CIA had even known where to look for them? Why the explosion and body remains hadn't fooled them? The answer was only one: somebody knew about Lex's research. But who?!

After couple of hours of driving and switching cars three times, Chloe stopped by a motel.

Another motel, another stop… and another fight on the horizon. And this time it's impossible to win, she thought, but luckily restrained herself from dissolving into tears again.

The receptionist could still tell she'd been crying though because he asked, "Are you ok, my dear? Bad breakup? Or maybe somebody hurt you?" He seemed to really care.

"I'm fine, thanks. Just… yeah, bad breakup," she said while taking the keys.

"If you need anything…"

"Of course, thank you," she finished the conversation quickly and rushed to her room.

And just then a plan started to crystallizing in her head.

She just needed one thing from the drugstore…

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Half an hour later, Chloe got back to her room and closed the door, then rushed to the bathroom.

The sink got quickly dirty from the dark hair dye she started applying…

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Send Luthor for physical examination," Carter told Lana when she approached him the next day.

"Already? Sir, with all due respect…"

"I know, Raven, I know. The process will take a lot of time and it'll be tedious, especially since Watchtower is out there… but they're just physicals. Mr. Luthor must be bored, so we may as well give him something to do. Assign him to a trainer and start looking for somebody who makes sure he would forget all about feelings."

"I think it's too late for that, sir," Lana dared say.

"Then we'll go to more drastic measures with memory erasure altogether."

"But there's only one step after that…" Lana started. She knew it perfectly and it was death.

"I know. Off you go now."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chloe remerged from the bathroom and began combing her hair while watching TV.

"…Luthor reclaimed his company…"

"WHAT?!" She couldn't believe her own eyes and ears.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 8

A woman with long dark hair walked through the front door of one of the CIA's branch. She was wearing a pantsuit, so it covered her immensely high heels. She raised her hand to brush her hair and therefore hide her face a little.

The guard that was sitting in the lobby barely even looked at her.

"Nice to see you again, Raven," he said, nodding to her, but his eyes didn't leave the newspaper he was reading.

Chloe sighed with huge relief when she passed him and finally stepped into the elevator.

She knew that Lana had been going to this building a lot and everyone knew her here, so they didn't pay much attention to her anymore. That was how Chloe managed to sneak in without arousing any suspicions. She just couldn't talk, be careful as not to show too much of her face, wear those ridiculous heels to match Lana's height and well, dye her hair. She was suddenly glad she hadn't cut it as she'd planned to.

She chose a very late hour for her visit, so the risk was minimal. She'd spent the last few days watching the place form a distance and Lana had been appearing regularly. Chloe was suddenly glad that she'd forged Lana's keycard just in case when the brunette had joined the agency. Now it was time to use it. All she had to do was to retrieve it from a secret place that even the CIA had no idea Chloe had.

She had to act quickly and do her best as not to bump into anybody, but in the same time she had to look completely normal and calm.

"It was much easier when on missions," Chloe muttered under her breath. "At least then it wasn't about my personal life…"

She finally managed to find Lana's room and she immediately disappeared inside.

It was a small office, therefore Chloe headed straight to the computer on the desk.

Fortunately the password protection wasn't much of a problem since Chloe had a special toy for that.

She plugged her pendrive in and the screen lightened up in an instant.

"Let's see…" she quickly entered the system while using Lana's data.

"Fuck," she cursed a couple of minutes later.

Lex was in the process of recruitment!

"Ok, it's not that bad. He's alive and they won't hurt him. And it'll be so much easier to find him this way," Chloe spoke out loud to make herself feel just a little better. "Ok, let's see your e-mail, Lana." She entered Lana's e-mail box. "Interesting…" she muttered when she found it almost completely empty. "You just have to keep deleting all the new messages, don't you?" she huffed.

Chloe knew that they were still retrievable even when deleted since everything always stayed on the server, but unfortunately she didn't have that many toys with her.

"Ok," she muttered, copied a couple of names that she managed to gather from Lana's hard drive and shut the computer. "Let's get out of here."

While she was leaving Lana's office and walking towards the exit, she just couldn't stop thinking that there was something wrong. Her instinct had never failed her before and she just knew that something about Lana stunk. The brunette was careful not to leave any trails behind, which didn't match with what Chloe remembered. Lana could never really handle her e-mail box before. It'd been always cluttered with messages. She'd liked to keep everything. Why the sudden change?

And Lex had said that he'd been taken by a woman…

"No, impossible… no…" Chloe said to herself while remembering how close she'd been with Lana. "But she was the only one who got my hint. She was the one I told not to worry if I… disappeared or something worse."

Chloe finally felt safer when she walked into the street.

Only then she noticed a suspicious car.

She slowly turned her head the other way and pretended to look at something concrete in the distance.

There was definitely a car following her. It drove very slowly, just a couple of meters behind her.

Chloe suddenly started running as fast as she could.

If only she remembered that running in such high heels wasn't a good idea…

She didn't get very far when collapsing on the ground.

"Fuck!" she cursed. "This is so not happening!"

She'd never before in her life worn such high heels.

"Having fun?" she heard a very familiar and in the same time very unexpected voice.

She thought the CIA spotted her, that they found out about her breaking into Lana's office and just waited until she would walk out, giving her the false sense of security.

But it wasn't the CIA.

It was Oliver Queen.

"Queen?!" she raised her voice, being completely baffled and then she managed to put herself together.

"Move," he hissed and she felt a very strong hand grabbing her and practically pulling her into the car.

The door was closed immediately and the engine started.

Chloe managed to sit straight in the backseat right next to smiling Oliver Queen when car fastened up.

"What the hell?!" she asked the blond man, moving to the other side, so she wouldn't be too close to him.

"I was expecting a 'thank you', but I let it go. It could be worse, you could curse again," he teased her.

"What do you want from me this time?!" she snapped at him.

"Nice to see you again, too." His smile broadened.

"Don't fuck with me, Queen!"

"And there it is, the valiant catty."

"I'm serious!"

"Ok, Sullivan. I just want to help you," his voice finally grew serious.

"Help me?" Chloe repeated, quite stunned. "You must be joking! In case you haven't heard, I'm the CIA's enemy number one."

"I am sure that it's not that bad," he teased with another smirk of his.

"What is it that you want from me, then?" she asked as her eyebrows elevated. "I will not jump into your bed if that's the case."

"Well, you are a very attractive woman, Chloe, but this is not my intention."

"What, then? I don't understand. How on earth would you like to help me for… nothing?"

"I think it's time to introduce myself properly. I'm Oliver Queen, NSA*."

Chloe just gaped at him in shock.

"You… what?!" she raised her voice, completely taken off track. "Don't play with me! You can't be…"

"I am," he confirmed with a nod.

"But you're the enemy!"

"So you've been told."

"I saw lots of files about you…"

"Fake," he just said. "Chloe, this is much bigger than you think. It's bigger than any of us. CIA secret branches are rotting from the inside. There are a lot of spies there."

"But… how… wow…" she finally uttered.

"I'm willing to help you. Why? Because you were willing to help me before and because I like you. If you work for me, I can give you and Lex the immunity, I can make sure you will be left alone after this ends. Of course, if you two manage to survive. I know working for me equals even more risk than working for the CIA, but I'm pretty sure you will risk it all. I can guarantee that you and Lex will get to live… well… happily ever after?" he finished with one of his famous smiles.

"Ok…" Chloe took a deep breath. She just couldn't believe that she came across such a chance. It was risky, yes, but in the same time it was her and Lex's best shot. "But what about those names I gave you? What happened to those people? How… I don't get it… they were spying on you, not knowing that you were NSA?"

"As I said, it's bigger than you can imagine. I'm just one of the pawns in the game. And when it comes to the names you gave me, I just needed some variable excuse to help you and therefore not blow my cover."

"Why would you?"

"I knew your background and I knew you wanted an out. I felt sorry for you. You didn't want to join the CIA in the first place. What happened, forced you to and when you were reunited with Luthor… I just thought I could do something good. I could do something for you two. I had my heart broken once, so I knew what you felt."

"What happened?" Chloe asked, feeling sorry for him. "If I may…"

"She was killed," the answer came. "Rogue agent."

"I'm sorry."

"It's ok. I'm better now and I found my purpose."

"What was her name?"

"Tess. Tess Mercer. She was this beautiful redheaded woman. She really was on fire," he remembered fondly, but also with pain visible in his eyes.

"She sounds great," Chloe said in a rather hushed voice because once again it was proven that this world was no fairy tale, no playground and if happy endings happened, they were so rare that they were worth fighting for. She understood perfectly now why Oliver decided to help her. She would do the same while being in his shoes. "Thank you," her voice broke a little. "I am so grateful." She covered his hand with hers.

"Don't mention it and… remember that I need you to do something for me as well."

"You have my word."

Chloe thought that there was no way of finding out if she could really trust him, but she had to take that risk. Also something inside of her told her that it was her best chance, that she had to work for this man.

Suddenly, she saw a small light in the darkness.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Her arms were around him, pulling him closer into a kiss. Her naked body was squirming wantonly beneath his own. He put his painfully erected and throbbing cock to her entrance and slid himself home. One push and he was all in. Her inner muscles were fluttering around him.

"Chloe…" He looked at her face. "I lo… Chloe?!"

She was gone in a second. He was lying there alone, still feeling the warmth of her body, but somehow she was nowhere to be seen.

"Chloe?!"

"Chloe!" Lex woke up, sitting on his bed immediately. His body was bathed in cold sweat, his cock throbbing.

But she wasn't there. He was in his 'cell' as he called it since though it looked like a small apartment, he couldn't get out.

"Chloe…" he moaned while hiding his face in his hands. "I miss you so much."

He felt like his life was over, like there was nothing left but pain that was getting more and more excruciating with every passing day.

He would've been better off dead, he thought, but on the other hand, Luthors were not quitters. He would not take the easy way out, because of her. She was still out there, uncaught, still trying to break him out as he was sure. All he had to do was wait.

But sometimes waiting was even harder than actually doing something.

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*NSA – National Security Agency


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 9

"How are you doing, Arrow?" Chloe heard Oliver's voice in her ear while she was approaching the safe.

"All right, almost there," she answered quietly. She knew no one was around, but it'd taken a great effort for her to enter that well-guarded facility in the first place.

She was being called Arrow now. It was a new codename Oliver had come up with, so Chloe's older acquaintances wouldn't recognize her.

She'd been working for him for almost two months now and slowly growing frustrated. She was so impatient! Not seeing Lex and, what was worse, not knowing if he was all right was driving her mad. She knew she couldn't blame Oliver, but she'd had to scream at someone at some point and he'd been wonderful with her. He'd let her let it all out, listened to her obscenities directed towards him and towards the CIA, then towards Lana and Lionel.

"Chloe…" Oliver had finally spoken when she'd stopped, clearly tired, her voice growing hoarse. "I know it's hard for you. I can't even begin to imagine what you must've been going through, but… we've been over this. There is absolutely no prove that Lana has done something wrong. At least I couldn't find any."

"I can't believe that she's the bad one, but I also can't just ignore that strange feeling inside of me that she's somehow connected to all of this," Chloe had finally lowered her voice, kind of shocked that Oliver hadn't snapped back at her.

"And I believe you, so I'll keep looking," he'd assured her.

"And Lionel… they couldn't just… he doesn't even care that he has a son! Why won't he do something?!"

"Using Lionel instead of letting him rot in jail was wrong because there will always be someone worse, someone to sell. We can't let criminals do our job. They'll take over sooner than we realize and it's happening right now, Chloe," Oliver had told her then. "Besides, he probably already knows about you and Lex and let's not forget that Lex was protecting you in the past and Lionel wanted to kill you. Is that something a father would do?"

"I guess not. What a stupid, fucked up family! If I hadn't involved myself with Lionel's games in the first place… but no, then I wouldn't have met Lex…" she'd sighed and sat in the nearest chair. Even if she could've lived a normal life with somebody else, she was glad that she'd done it all the way she had. She'd loved Lex more than anything. No one could ever replace him. "I'm just so tired…"

"I know, Chloe, I know," Oliver had put his arms around her and hugged her. "But we can do this. You'll see Lex again and I will get Lionel."

Now, as Chloe finally approached the safe, she thought what wonderful a friend Oliver had turned out to be. Even better than Lana had used to. It hurt Chloe, but in the same gave her hope, because if she could still find new friends then she wasn't truly alone.

"I'm ready," she said when putting the decoding device to the safe. "Shit… How much time do I have left?" she asked on seeing it was taking a little longer than she expected.

"Not much, but you can do this. I'll guide you. Don't worry. Oh, and I have some news. Just get back here safely and you'll hear them."

"If that's not motivating enough then I don't know what is," she murmured under her breath. "Got it!" The safe stood open.

She quickly took a small device which in fact was a very dangerous viral weapon when activated and then she put a fake replacement in its place.

"Ok, close it and get out of there!" Oliver told her.

Chloe shut the safe and quickly ran towards the door, then the corridor and another room and…

"Shit!" she cursed as suddenly an armed guard stood in her way.

"What is it, Arrow?" Oliver asked.

But instead of an answer Chloe just rushed forward and attacked. She saw her best chance in just charging without warning and she was right. She kicked the gun off the man's hands and hit him hard in the jaw.

He moaned in pain, but was ready to fight back immediately.

Chloe didn't have much time left. She knew there were others coming. If only she could get to the first floor…

She quickly ducked when the man's fist was ready to connect with her face and she kicked him hard in the groin.

That was it. No man would be ready to keep fighting after something like that.

"Take that!" She smiled and rushed towards the stairs.

She kept descending, already sensing others chasing her…

"Arrow, you have no time!" Oliver yelled. "Find another…"

Before he could finish she, while finally on the first floor, jumped through the window. The glass shattered, so she closed her eyes and shielded them with her hands. Then she landed on a car's roof.

"…or you can just do that," she heard Oliver's voice in her ear again. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah…" she couldn't hide a moan though. "Just my arm hurts, but I'm fine."

She got to her feet and started running immediately. She was still being chased.

A black car stopped with a screech of tires right by the sidewalk and she jumped in without hesitation. She recognized it. It was Oliver's man.

"Nice stunt, Arrow," the agent said with admiration in his voice, "and quick thinking."

"You haven't seen me in real action yet," Chloe just replied cockily and the man laughed at that.

Soon, they arrived at Oliver's secret facility and Chloe walked in.

"Are you ok?" Oliver immediately appeared by her side.

"Yes. Here's your toy." She handed him the small device. "Now, I want to know what you found out."

"Chloe, first you need to see a doctor."

"I'm fine!" she raised her voice.

"Have you looked in the mirror recently?" came the retort.

Chloe huffed and turned to the wall where there was one hanging on.

"Oh, shit," she said while seeing a couple of small cuts all over her face. She couldn't feel them yet because of the adrenaline her body was producing. "Thank God, they're just superficial."

"Worried about your pretty face, aren't we?" Oliver chuckled. "You also should have that arm looked up."

"Ok," she reluctantly agreed. "Where's the doctor?"

"Come," Oliver said and put his hand on the small of her back to guide her. "In the meantime, I can tell you everything I know."

"Finally!"

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"We have managed to gather enough valid information about the group that kidnapped your fiancé," Oliver said when Chloe sat in a chair and let the doctor take a look at her.

"So, who was that?"

Oliver cleared his throat. "You're not gonna like it," he warned her.

"God, damn it! Just tell me already! I can handle it!"

"She's called Raven."

Chloe stilled, her body going into small shock. Even though she knew what was coming, it still hurt her.

"Lana…" she sighed heavily. "Lana tortured… Lex…" Her eyes got a little blurry and she realized she began to cry. "How could she… Lex… and she was my friend…"

"So, we know by now that she wanted you two separated, but we do not know why. Why Lex?" Oliver asked the perfect question.

"She's working for Lionel, obviously," Chloe said, wiping her tears away.

"We do not have a prove for that," Oliver told her. "But it's possible. Or she's just so loyal to the CIA that she couldn't stand the thought of you betraying them or… it's just you leaving her since in her eyes it's your fault that she had to join in the first place."

"I don't know…" Chloe thought hard. "She kind of… enjoys it. She wanted to become an agent. I was the one who didn't."

"Well, speculations won't do us any good, so we just have to keep digging."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"What is he doing now?" Carter asked as soon as Raven approached him.

"He's just finished his physical evaluation. His body's in a great shape, so he'll be up to do his job very soon. Now it's time to see how much was erased. We can only do one additional electroshock therapy since any more than that could be a grave danger to him. After all, even somebody as immune as Lex Luthor wouldn't stand it."

"Good. Take me to him. I want to talk to him."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Raven and Carter watched Lex shaking in convulsions as the last electroshock therapy was being conducted. Lana had informed Carter before that something like that had worked the last time when Lionel had erased Lex's memories, so it should now as well.

She took a really great pleasure while watching the bald lover of her best friend in pain. She'd wanted that for him from the very moment he'd reappeared in Chloe's life.

"Now… are you aware?" Carter asked Lex as he approached him.

Lex's blood shot eyes opened widely.

"Good." Carter smiled and took the gag out of his mouth. "Now… Lex, what about Chloe Sullivan?" Carter spoke loud and clear.

Lex was looking at him, confused and then the answer came, "Who is she?"

Lana almost jumped with joy and clasped her hands. Her job was done. She'd destroyed what Chloe and Lex had.

"Good." Carted smiled and turned to a doctor that conducted the procedure, "Release him from these restraints and then take him to his room. He needs to recover."

"What will happen to him next?" Lana asked Carter before he walked away.

"He'll become an agent. In fact, he will be the one to kill Chloe Sullivan."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The door swung open and Lex was led in.

He slowly walked to his bed and collapsed into it with no physical strength left.

Then the door shut and he was left alone.

He immediately sat up which caused him a lot of pain, but he fought through it. He had to.

Next, he dropped to the floor and found the familiar crack in it.

With shaky hands he retrieved the engagement ring that he'd hidden there two months ago. He brought it to his face and kissed it.

"Chloe," his voice was husky.

He had no idea why he still remembered her, but he was grateful for that. It was true that he'd had his memories erased by his father in the past, but now the therapy had no effect on him.

Maybe it was his remarkable immunity that had come from the meteor shower and maybe it'd gotten stronger as he'd gotten older, but maybe it was the love that couldn't be erased. It was so different to those erased two weeks of his life. Lionel had wanted to make sure back then that Lex had had no idea who'd killed his grandparents. And it was different when it came to something much more stronger, something that he'd been keeping locked in his heart for more than ten years.

He'd decided to play along at some point and finally admit that he'd truly forgotten. Now he could be an agent. He could go on missions. That definitely increased his chances to find Chloe. Especially if she was looking for him as well.

And he was sure she was.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 10

Chloe was sitting on a couch with a cup of hot coco in her hands, looking through the nearest window, but not really seeing it.

"Careful there," she heard Oliver's voice form behind her, which almost caused her to jump and spill her coffee. "I'm very close to start doubting your abilities."

Chloe put her cup on the table and looked at his friend, this time more lucidly.

"Sorry," she sighed and rubbed her temples. "I guess I haven't been the best agent recently. After all, that would explain why you keep denying me missions."

"It's not that, Chloe and you know it," Oliver told her and made his way to her. "You are an excellent agent," he sat down by her side, "only now your senses are a little shadowed by your feelings."

"Did you come here just to tell me that?" she asked because they hadn't spoken for a couple of days. Oliver had been really busy.

"No." He suddenly smiled to her.

"So, it's good news, then?" she asked carefully as not to be happy about it too early.

"Yeah, the best you can get right now, I guess."

"What is it?" She was finally on alert, ready for action. "Is it… Lex?"

"We intercepted some info about Raven's next mission," Oliver notified. "You have a chance to get her, Chloe. A chance to get Lex out."

"Great! I can't wait to lay my hand on that bitch's!"

"Easy there, tigress, leave that till the actual encounter, ok?"

"So, when's the mission?"

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lex had been on two missions already, just as a back-up for Lana. They didn't want him to do anything serious yet as they still didn't trust him one hundred percent, but he was doing everything in his power to earn that trust. After all, he was always an excellent actor.

That night Lana had a simple case of assassination, but took him with her anyways. Lex didn't really know why he was always assigned to her and didn't have the luxury to figure it out either.

He also didn't know that his world would drastically change again in the next twelve hours.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ok, Chloe, we need her alive, so…" Oliver started while they were waiting for the right moment in the van.

"Yeah!" Chloe rolled her eyes at that. "I know! It doesn't matter how much I want to kill her! I'll make sure she stays alive, but I can't promise not to hurt her." An evil smile rested on her face.

Oliver just shook his head in exasperation, but didn't say anything.

"Don't worry, Ollie," her voice suddenly grew soft and she touched his arm. "I will not screw this up. I want answers and Lana Lang is the only person who can give them to me. Besides, she knows where Lex is and what happened to him… God, I hope he's all right."

"Don't worry. He's too valuable for them. They'll definitely use him as bait at some point."

"I know, but it scares me just as much."

"Ok. Ready?"

"Yeah," Chloe confirmed. "Positive," she corrected herself when she saw the look on Oliver's face.

"I'm turning the mike on, so it's Arrow from now on."

"Positive, Green," repeated Chloe while using Oliver's code name.

"There's some unidentified truck outside. I'm gonna check it up. You, go to the roof, it's Raven's extraction point."

"Chopper?" Chloe guessed.

"Maybe. It's scheduled twenty minutes from now, so better rush."

"Done!"

Chloe got out of the van and while remaining in the shadows, she reached the back door of the building.

"In and then up and up…" she told herself and entered.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I don't understand, Raven," Lex admitted. "Where's that guy we're supposed to eliminate?"

Lana just rolled her eyes and ignored Lex's comment.

She knew there was no guy. The whole mission was a set-up. A set-up for Chloe. It was high time Lex finally killed her.

"And how do you know it's a guy?" she just asked.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chloe finally got to the roof and… she stood still in a deep shock as she saw the backs of two people. One was definitely Lana, but the bald guy had to be Lex!

Why would he be on such a mission? She wondered.

Chloe had only one answer to that – he was a bait and this was a set-up for her.

Lana heard the door opening and turned around, firing her gun immediately.

Chloe managed to overcome her shock and ran, hiding behind a chimney.

"You can't run, Chloe," Lana said with cold and such heartless voice that it caused Chloe to shiver.

"Chloe?!" she heard Lex's scream and it took all her will power not to take a peek at him. She wanted him so badly and her heart was beating so loudly. She'd been missing him terribly for the past few months. She wanted nothing more than to find herself in his arms again.

But she had to fight first. Lana Lang had to be captured.

"Lex, knock her out!" she yelled to him, seeing the best way in such an action.

Unfortunately, before Lex managed to take Lana's gun – he didn't have one from obvious reasons – Lana turned out to be faster. She kicked him hard in the stomach, which caused him to bend over and fall to the ground.

"Ch…loe!" he called hoarsely.

"Don't you dare fucking hurt him, bitch!" Chloe got mad.

"Well, you know what, Watchtower? I don't know what it is about him, but he just can't fucking forget you! We electrocuted him! Yet, he somehow managed to deceive us. He still remembers. How is that, Lex?! HOW?!" Lana kicked him hard again while he was still on the ground.

"STOP!" Chloe emerged from behind the chimney and pointed her gun at Lana. She couldn't look at Lex's figure on the ground now, it was just too painful for her. She couldn't even think that it was all her fault. It was her fault that he'd been sucked into all of this. Although with Lionel finally coming out of the shadows and reclaiming the LuthorCorp, maybe whatever had happened, they would've been just in the same place now.

Chloe fired immediately, aiming at Lana, but Lana was very fast, too fast, Chloe thought. She must've improved herself. She must've been the new star in their agency after Chloe had left.

Lana was fine, just now standing a few inches from the place Chloe had aimed her gun at to shoot her.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Fuck!" Oliver cursed on hearing the gunshot.

He was already close to the truck he believed had brought Raven here. He needed to check it up, but Chloe seemed to need him more.

He turned and ran towards the building.

Almost in the same time the truck exploded.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chloe wanted to pull the trigger immediately again, but then the explosion stopped her and caused her to look at the truck.

No, she thought, it couldn't be. Not like this! She was terrified. Oliver.

She'd already had too much on her conscience. Too many people had died or had been destroyed because of her. She'd ruined too many lives and she couldn't handle one more. Not when it was her dear friend.

"Chloe!" Lex screamed to warn her, his voice full of fear, pain and longing, but it was too late.

Lana aimed and fired.

Chloe was suddenly thrown back and then she fell to the ground, the bullet stuck near her heart.

"CHLOOOEEEEEE!" Lex screamed as loud as he could, terrified that she might… "Chloe!" He got to his feet and threw himself at Lana, fighting the urge to run to Chloe. First, he had to take care of Raven.

Lana raised her gun…

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chloe heard another gunshot that seemed to come from very, very far as she slowly drifted into unconsciousness.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oliver woke up. His body felt strangely numb from his fall as he'd been lifted into the air by the force of the explosion and then violently dropped.

His head was killing him, but he managed to clear his thoughts.

He quickly focused on his body, made sure he was fine, had all limbs, nothing broken or shot.

He seemed ok. He was lucky to turn away from the truck just in time as not to be blown into pieces.

"Chloe!" he remembered and got to his feet as fast as could, the feeling coming back, so it wasn't pleasant at all. At some point he even moaned in pain.

He quickly called for backup and after another ten minutes of painful walk, he managed to climb up the stairs and finally found himself on the roof.

"Chloe!" he yelled, but there was no answer.

No one was there and he didn't know for how long exactly he'd been unconscious.

Then he noticed the pool of blood by the chimney.

"Oh, God, let it not be Chloe, please," he begged, but knew it was all futile. If that had been Lana's blood, Chloe and Lex would've been here. The blood must've belonged to Chloe or Lex. Either way was not good.

The backup team finally got to the roof.

"Take a sample," Oliver pointed the blood, "and get it analyzed as fast as you can."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The first thing Chloe became aware of was the searing pain in her chest.

"Come on, wakie, wakie," she heard a very familiar, but full of venom voice.

Her lids seemed to be so heavy that she had trouble opening her eyes and finally managed to do it after another couple of seconds.

Everything seemed blurry and then her sight started slowly adjusting. Eventually she spotted Lana standing by her bed.

Chloe realized she was in a completely normal hospital, not in the CIA, and that she was fine. She must've been operated on, but she was alive nonetheless.

"Sorry, I couldn't let them give you more morphine. I need to talk to you," Lana said and smiled acidly. "Then you can have as much as you want."

"L-L-Lex…" Chloe started.

End of part 2


	12. Chapter 12

Part 3

Chapter 11

"Where's Lex?" Chloe repeated and as she was more focused now, she started getting rather angry than scared and if it wasn't for the pain she felt in her body, she would throw herself at Lana.

"Lex is dead," the answer came. Just like that. Completely blatant.

First Chloe disbelieved, but then when she remembered the gunshot she'd heard on the roof, a sudden wave of nausea and pain overwhelmed her.

Les was dead.

"No!" she yelled at Lana, couldn't believe that it could all just be over. "No, he can't be!"

"Oh, Chloe, Chloe," Lana shook her head and smacked her lips. "I am quite certain since I am the one who killed him."

This time Chloe ignored everything and just jumped, her intention was to get out of bed, land on her feet and strangle Lana, but she was stopped before she could stand, the physical pain was just too much for her.

"I'd be careful if I were you," Lana continued, her voice the same. "You had a very complicated surgery and any sudden movement can break your stitches. You don't want to bleed to death, do you?"

"Why?" Chloe just asked, wincing on feeling too much. Her chest hurt and if her wound wasn't enough, she had a broken heart now. Yet, she was still in shock, believing that Lex would just come through the door to see her anytime. She just couldn't process it while being in denial. She had to know the truth first. The whole truth.

"Why what?" Lana prompted, playing with her. "Why did I kill him? Why did I betray you? Or maybe why did I let you live? Which one shall I answer?"

Chloe closed her eyes, took a deep breath while trying to forget about the pain in her body just as she'd been taught during her training. She'd been prepared to withstand tortures, so she could get over some gunshot, even when the bullet had hit her so close to the heart. She also did her best to ignore the stinging in her eyes. She could not cry right now. She had to hold her nerves. The time for grieving would come later.

Oh, God, Oliver, she suddenly remembered. She didn't know whether he was dead for sure, but the odds weren't in his favor.

Chloe finally met Lana's eyes again.

"I think you only have one answer for me, Lana," Chloe said, her voice strangely strong and full of confidence. She could do this. She wouldn't think or feel, she would just ask questions and listen. And then she would kill Lana even if that would be the last thing she did. "You betrayed me. You kidnapped Lex. You were the one who gave the CIA the hint that we were both alive and well. Now you…" Chloe stopped, she might be strong, but those words just refuse to leave her throat.

For the first time Lana looked at her rather sadly.

"You're so blind, Chloe," she sighed heavily and shifted in her seat. "So fucking blind."

"So enlighten me, please," Chloe just asked.

Lana didn't say anything, she just stood up and came closer.

Chloe wanted to move away from her former friend, afraid that she would hurt her, but that just wasn't possible in her condition.

Then something so unexpected happened that Chloe could just stay still in a complete and utter shock.

Lana leaned towards her and just… kissed her.

In the mouth.

Before Chloe could even react like for example bite Lana or hit her, the brunetter moved away.

"I love you, Chloe," she then confessed.

The blonde just started with her eyes widely open and a moment later her lips parted, but nothing came out of it.

"Yeah, just like I said. Too fucking blind," Lana sighed and came back to her seat. "Do you think I could stand watching you with him?! With Lex fucking Luthor?" Her voice was back to normal now – cold and full of hate.

"I… I…" Chloe stammered trying to wrap her mind around all of it. "Um…"

"Why do you think I fucking agreed to be recruited?!"

"You… so… you want to tell me that you're gay?" Chloe asked very slowly.

"Yes, I am."

"And you were that way… back in Smallville?"

"At first, no," Lana answered honestly. "I had a crush on Clark. I even thought I loved him. Then when I met you closer through him… Chloe, you have no idea how beautiful and magnificent you truly are."

Chloe suddenly laughed. It was a strange, hysteric laughter, a laughter that could belong to a lunatic.

"You…" she couldn't stop laughing, "you... loved… me?! When all this time I felt so small and insignificant because of you? It was always Lana Lang, the town beauty, always, never Chloe Sullivan. And that Lana Lang fell in love with me?!" Chloe stopped laughing and started yelling instead. She just couldn't comprehend how stupid it all sounded. Because of Lana's sexual preference she lost… her life was…

"Chloe, you have no idea how magnificent you were back there," Lana told her with admiration and love in her eyes and it only caused Chloe to feel nauseous again.

"Yes, I do now. Do you want to know why? Because Lex was the one who noticed me! Lex was the one who fell for me back then! And then it was all over before it even started! And you… you just… you fucking bitch!" Chloe screamed.

"Hush, darling, you don't want a nurse come in and sedate you, don't you?" Lana asked.

Chloe hated the fact that Lana was right. She had to keep quiet because otherwise she might not get the chance to hurt the woman.

"You destroyed my life. Lana, you knew I wasn't gay. I was straight. I loved Lex. I told you that when I bumped into him on that mission and you… you were planning this the whole time, weren't you? You were planning it ever since that day."

"You had no idea how much you hurt me, Chloe."

"Of course I didn't!" Chloe raised her voice again, tears glistening in her eyes as she couldn't fight them anymore. "You should've told me!"

"Would've that changed anything?"

"Maybe. You wouldn't have got the chance to hurt me like this."

"Oh, I would. I couldn't stand the thought of you being together! You two, in bed, doing all those nasty thing to each other…"

"Stop!" Chloe raised her hand. "Just fucking stop!" Lana evoked pictures in her mind that she didn't want there now. "How could that be love, Lana? When you love somebody, you let them go, you don't make them love you back. It just doesn't work that way. I learnt that lesson from my stupid crush on Clark in high school."

"But Chloe," Lana started, strange insanity reflecting in her eyes, "don't you see? Look at yourself. You dyed your hair raven when we were parted. Doesn't that prove anything?"

Chloe thought she couldn't be more shocked, but apparently she could.

"Lana, what happened to you?" she just asked the brunette when watching her closely. "What happened to that sweet girl who was running the Talon? Don't you remember how great you were back then? People loved you, not only for your beauty, but for your goodness inside you as well. And now… when I think about it… you were changed the very same moment you were recruited. What did they do to you on that training? I remained the same in my heart, but you… they rooted every ounce of that goodness out. You became a completely different person, a crazy one. I can't believe I was so blind, but I guess I was just desperate to have someone connected to my old life that I didn't notice."

"But…"

"My hair is raven because I had to dye it in order to dress up like you and break into your office. And if you don't know that I did that, then it worked out perfectly. Thanks to the information I retrieved from your hard drive, O…" Chloe bit her tongue. She was so close to revealing Oliver's name that it terrified her. She was definitely too shaken up to think straight. "Ouch…" she quickly faked that the pain had gotten worse. "It helped me a lot. The data… I finally figured out that you were the one behind Lex's kidnapping."

Well, Oliver had done it and it'd taken a lot of research to talk to the right people, but Lana didn't have to know that.

Lana's lips suddenly created one thin line and Chloe was struck with how ugly her former friend looked at that moment. Her face was contorted and angry. It wasn't the beautiful and warm Lana Lang she'd used to know. It was an artificial Barbie that had gone ugly from her bitterness and hate inside her.

Then Lana just got up and headed towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Chloe asked in surprise. "Won't you take me to the CIA? They still want me, don't they?"

"I destroyed all the evidence they had against you and even erased the records that you ever existed," Lana informed.

"Wh… How did you do it?"

Lana turned to look back at Chloe.

"I leant a few skills and broke into the right places. I am the one who planted the evidence in the first place. Chloe, I didn't want to hurt you. I only wanted to hurt Lex and that's enough of revenge for me."

"Revenge for what?!" Chloe snapped again. "Lana, can you even hear yourself?! You want revenge for my not loving you? Are you insane?! Well, I say you are!"

"I'm sorry, Chloe."

"Sorry?! You're sorry?!" Chloe finally jumped and got out of bed, but before she could reach Lana, she staggered and collapsed, bleeding.

"Chloe!" Lana screamed and wanted to get to her.

"Get away from me, your fucking bitch! You're insane!" Chloe started screaming. "You hurt him! He did nothing to you! He was the only person I've ever truly loved and you killed him!"

Then the nurse came into the room.

"Oh, God! Please, stay still! We need a doctor here!" she screamed. "Hold on…"

"Where is she…?" Chloe moaned with pain.

"Who?" the nurse asked.

"The woman that killed…" but Chloe stopped.

There was no one else in the room. Lana fled. And Chloe passed out.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Excuse me!" Oliver ran to the nurse station. "I was told on the phone that there was a young blonde woman admitted here yesterday. Chloe Sullivan."

"And you are?" The nurse looked at him.

"I'm a friend. She'll be very happy to see me."

"Let me ask her…"

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yes, Chloe used her real name in the hospital and it was so freeing to be herself again. Lana had erased her records and the proof the CIA had against her. If believing Oliver, it wasn't even in the CIA, only in the secret branch, so Chloe easily suspected they would not bother with finding her since they'd gone rouge.

The other reason to why she used her real name was that it was the only way Oliver's people could find her and she knew they would be looking. Even if he was…

Chloe was tired, her head aching after having been crying for a few hours. She lost so much. Above all, she lost the one man she loved, the one she wanted to spend her life with. Now nothing had sense anymore. She just wanted to die. But then she remembered that Lana had gotten away and Chloe's new aim was to have her revenge. To kill that bitch.

And then, when she was so depressed and hurt, the nurse came in to inform her that a young man named Oliver wanted to see her.

It wasn't her Lex, but it was a friend and Chloe was so happy that he'd survived.

"Oliver!" she exclaimed with fresh tears in her eyes as he came in.

"Chloe!"

He quickly got to her bed and hugged her gently as not to cause her more pain and then he kissed her forehead.

"I thought you were dead!"

"So did I… I mean, that you were… that truck…"

"I heard a gunshot and just when I turned to head to the roof to help you, it exploded. I was far enough not to be killed."

"Thank God. Oliver… Lex…" Chloe's voice faltered again. "I have enough!" she suddenly raised it. "My whole body aches from the shot and from all that crying and yet… I can't seem to stop!"

"Sssh… shh… Chloe, here you go." Oliver handed her a tissue. "It'll be all right. You'll see." He sat in the chair next to her bed and held her hand.

"It won't be. She killed Lex."

"And I am so sorry for that… Why didn't she kill you? Why are you still here?"

So Chloe managed to tell him all about her chat with Lana, though it caused her even more pain and tears.

"I don't know what I… I mean… who would've… that's a very stupid reason! She's insane!" Oliver admitted.

"Exactly."

"But wait…" He suddenly stirred, thinking hard. "You say she let you go because she killed Lex and she got what she wanted?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"It just doesn't hold water. If she'd really killed him, she would've tried to stop you from leaving," he pointed out.

"Yeah, but I would never ever be with her, so she knows it's not gonna happen. I'd rather kill myself."

"She has to know that, too."

"What is it, Oliver?" Chloe asked, studying his face.

"Something's off with…"

"She's a psycho," Chloe repeated. "So don't try to understand her."

"So that pretty much explains everything?" Oliver asked. "No, it doesn't. She might be a little crazed, but she still is an agent and a hell of a good one…"

"So, what is it?"

"Have you seen Lex dying with your own eyes?"

"No," Chloe admitted when shaking her head, "but I heard a gunshot. And then Lana told me."

"So did I. I heard a gunshot and I saw blood on the roof, but it was your blood, Chloe and you are not dead."

"What are you saying?" Chloe asked. She kind of knew it already, but didn't want to say it out loud in fear to get her hopes up for nothing.

"Ok, I don't want to give you any false hope, but I don't think Lex is dead," Oliver finally blurted out.

"But…"

"Chloe," he gently squeezed her hand, "only your blood was on that roof."

"What?! But that means…"

"That means that Lex wasn't shot there and maybe Lana just staged that gunshot."

"But…"

"It makes perfect sense," Oliver interrupted her again. "She knows she would never get you, so she killed two birds with one stone. You're here, alive, thinking that he's dead and maybe… just maybe… he's back there, in that secret branch, thinking you are dead. Lana has him. She sees him suffering. She's satisfied. She might be crazy, but this way you can actually understand her actions."

"Oh, my God, Oliver, you are genius! I love you!... I mean… I love you like a brother," Chloe added.

"I know," Oliver smiled to her. "I treat you the same way, sister."

"So let me out of here! We have work to do."

"Not so fast, sis, you have to recover first."

"Then can't you just have me transferred to your place? I mean, you have a doctor there, don't you?"

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lex's head hurt so badly that when he woke up, a moan escaped his mouth.

"God… Chloe!" he remembered immediately and his head pounded even more.

He sat up and realized he was back in the branch, in his old room.

"What the…?"

He remembered Lana shooting Chloe and then firing her gun again. She knocked him out afterwards.

Lex heard the door opening and there she was.

"Where is she?!" He got to his feet and lunged for Lana, but she evaded him and he staggered.

"Careful there, you're still a little hazy. After all, I drugged you."

"Why am I here? Is Chloe all right?!" he asked.

"You're here because this is the place you belong to now, Lex," Lana said calmly. "You are one of us now. And Chloe is dead."

"What?! No! She can't be!" He wanted to attack again, but Lana slapped him across the face and he landed back on his bed. She was right, he really was in a poor condition. The drug she'd given him caused him to feel weak and shaky.

"No…" he just moaned and while sitting, he placed his face in his hands. "No!"

"Oh, and I did you a favor, by the way" Lana said while reaching the door. "I didn't tell anybody about your little mischief. No one knows you still remember Chloe Sullivan and better make sure it stays that way."

"Why?" Lex looked up at her with tears in his eyes. He hated showing his weakness like that, but even men from steel broke sometimes.

"Because I am not as bad as you think, Lex. Chloe betrayed the CIA and now she's just gone. I erased all her records, so I would appreciate you not snooping around. You won't find anything, I promise. People here don't even care about her anymore since Langley was never informed in the first place."

"Because you, what? You are a ghost branch?" he snorted.

"We're working in secret, doing the dirty job. Officially we don't exist and do I have to remind you that Lex Luthor died in the motel explosion? Exactly."

"I have no reason to live now. Maybe except… to get you," Lex then said and Lana only chuckled at that.

"Oh, you will never get me." After that, she walked out of there.

Her job was done. The star-crossed lovers were parted forever.

Lex would still be killed, but that wasn't her job anymore. Somebody else wanted the honor. Somebody she headed to right now. She was leaving the CIA and wouldn't come back.

"Oh, I will fucking find you and kill you even if that's be the last think I'll ever do," Lex promised.

Then he just let go, breaking completely.

He remember the day he'd first found out about Chloe being dead. It was almost eleven years ago. He'd been devastated and hurt. He'd thought his father had killed her.

"My father," he suddenly remembered.

It looked like he had one more person to kill, after all.

Because Lionel Luthor was responsible for all of this.

This one day though Lex allowed himself to be weak and pathetic, he allowed himself to cry over the woman who'd changed his whole life and then was killed before they even had the chance to be really together. Happy. Married. With children.

"Chloe!" Lex screamed in agony and searched for the ring he'd bought her once.

He would attach that ring to a bullet that he would shoot straight through Lana Lang's brain, he decided.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lana finally reached the building. She'd left the CIA behind her with no intention of ever coming back. They would probably look for her, but she would be long gone then. She'd been promised by someone, after all.

Finally, she entered the office at the top floor and made her way to the man waiting for her by his desk.

"And…?" he inquired.

"Everything went according to plan," she answer with a smile.

"Good girl."

His gaze quickly descended from her face to her body.

Lana just kept smiling and when finally reaching the man, she captured his lips with hers, sliding her tongue inside, lavishing his mouth.

Yes, she'd told Chloe she was gay, but the truth was that while she liked girls more, she could also do boys. And there was the other more urgent thing. Women couldn't get inside her as deeply as men could and sometimes the urge was there, nagging at her. Or maybe it was just the fact that she couldn't get the one she really wanted. And she wanted Chloe.

The man's lips descended to Lana's neck.

She got straight to his belt, undoing his pants and reaching for his erected cock.

He turned her over, pushed her skirt down and while she supported herself on the desk, he entered her with one quick stroke.

They never bothered with long foreplay, they were always doing it rough as they wanted to fuck away their common hatred towards Lex and Chloe and their disappointments with them.

"Oh, fuck yes," Lionel moaned loudly as he plunged himself deeply into Lana one last time before her channel started contracting around his cock and they both came.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 12

He was above her, moving inside of her, pushing into her. Their arms around each other, their bodies as close as they could get. They were both panting and moaning with pleasure. Their sweat mixing. Lips locked. Tongues entwined…

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Both Chloe and Lex woke up from very similar dreams.

Chloe felt awful. She missed him so badly that it ached and it was nothing compared to the time they'd been separated before. He must've been in such pain that it was nearly unbearable for Chloe. She hated when somebody she loved suffered and if she could choose an alternative, she would prefer to be in Lex's place. She remembered how her father had died, she remembered leaving everything behind. Why did he life have to be a constant struggle? She'd been running all the time, hiding, trying to find her place, trying to settle down, but there was always something coming up and throwing her off her track.

"Fuck," she cursed because she couldn't ignore the throb between her legs anymore. She'd been having very vivid erotic dreams about Lex recently and she couldn't stand them anymore.

She had to bring herself some relief because it was very uncomfortable and very painful at the same time when there was no Lex there to satisfy her needs.

She decided it would be better if she just made it go away. She had enough suffering on her plate.

So she brought her hand down to her clit and rubbed it while thinking about Lex. About the moment they would be reunited and they would just forget about everything. Forget about the whole world and just lock themselves in some secluded cottage in the mountains and have sex all the time. And get married.

Chloe came quickly, but though the physical need was kind of satisfied, the psychical wasn't. She was still alone, with no one to hold her in his arms. One of the her most favorite parts about sex was also the aftermath when she could just snuggle into Lex, feeling safe, happy and sated.

That was all gone now.

And she wouldn't stop until she would get that back or die in the process.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lex woke up hard.

He was so sick of it. So sick of pain, of lost, of the work he had to do since he was an agent now and, most of all, sick of life.

He was determined not to harm himself as long as he would have his revenge on his father and Lana. Those two had taken everything from him and Chloe as well. Lex also couldn't not remember that Lionel had killed Chloe's father.

The Luthor senior had a way of murdering all the love that was around him.

Lex was angry and aroused because of a dream. A dream of a woman he would never get back.

He got up and went to the bathroom to take a shower.

He felt like there was something missing from him, like somebody had ripped half of him and destroyed it, leaving a terribly aching scar that would never heal.

He wouldn't hold on for much longer. His life was nothing but suffering and misery.

He shut his eyes hard and then winced. He couldn't function like that. His mind was still full of vivid erotic images of Chloe wigging wantonly beneath him, of her breasts grazing against his chest, her inner channel squeezing around his cock.

"FUCK!" growled Lex and hit the tiled wall with his fist. It hurt, but didn't make his erection go away.

He finally brought his hand down to his cock and started stroking it with fast and hard movements.

Soon, he was coming hard while thinking about Chloe because he wasn't capable of doing anything else at that moment.

Then when it was over, all that was left in him was that terrible ache in his chest, that horrific invisible scar. The physical need was gone, but though it was the only one he could get rid of, it wasn't the worst.

He slid down against the wall until he was sitting and put his arms around his knees.

His face looked like a face of a crazy person. A person that was delirious, broken and hurt beyond repair.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hey, Chloe… Oh, new hair. I like it," Oliver said when she appeared that morning in the main room.

He'd been gone on a mission since he'd gotten her out of the hospital and the first thing Chloe had done when she could get out of bed was to go to the hairdresser. She'd had to come back to her natural color, so she'd had her hair dyed blond and then she'd decided to have it cut as well. She'd remembered her look from the times in Smallville and she'd wanted nothing to do with Lana anymore.

Now Chloe was blonde and her hair was short, cut just above her shoulders.

"It's the old me," she said when sitting next to him by the table. "It's the real me," she added and poured herself some coffee.

"I really do like it," he repeated. "But… Chloe, the hair is great, but I can't tell the same about you. You look… don't get this the wrong way, but… awful."

"That's how I feel. Any leads?" she asked, not offended. "Please, tell me you have something. I'm slowly going out of my mind here. I have to stay in because no one can know I'm alive. I know it can get to Lana."

"Actually, I have something," Oliver admitted, "and I think it's time for you to strike again."

"Really?!" Chloe got excited and shifted in her seat. "Come on! Do tell!"

"First, I found out that Raven is an official enemy right now and not only in the branch she was working for."

"So she went rouge."

"Exactly. I couldn't tell you anything about my mission before, but I can now. I wascleaning up the mess some rogue agents left. The CIA is finally taking care of your branch and they're officially looking for Lana while I'm looking for a proof that Lionel Luthor is dirty."

"Can't you just arrest him?"

"It's not that simple since he's got immunity. The only way to bring him down is to prove that he's working with some criminal. And here is my new lead… it's not confirmed yet, but it would make a perfect sense. Lionel and Lana."

"Lionel and Lana?!" Chloe raised her voice and opened her eyes widely in shock. "Seriously?"

"Yeah. He was spotted with some attractive brunette, but unfortunately my informer didn't see her face. His description does fit Lana perfectly though."

"Wow," Chloe uttered. "Just… wow… that would be… you're right… now when I think about it, it does make sense. What is it that both Lionel and Lana want? To hurt me and Lex."

"Lana doesn't want you dead," Oliver noticed.

"But she wants me hurt. She wants me to feel the loss."

"And Lionel is convenient for her. He can protect her. He plays safely like always, he's even more careful now when he knows we're onto him, so it won't be easy to catch him, but…"

"Connect him to Lana who's a rogue agent and… boom, all is shattered."

"It's still not enough, but it's a good start. If we have something on him, then all his dirty acquaintances will turn on him."

"What's the plan for me in all of this?" Chloe just inquired.

"It would've worked better if you hadn't changed your hair, but we can arrange something."

Chloe raised her eyebrows at that. "What do you mean?"

"I need you to become Lana one last time."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chloe – disguised as Lana – made herself seen a couple of times in the next week in arranged meetings with criminals. Oliver's contacts that still had no idea who he was, played a valid part in that one.

He couldn't just get Lex out of the CIA and hide him and Chloe. He didn't have that much power and no one would do that for him if he asked. The cleanse had just started and Lex wouldn't be let go because he'd gotten into the agency through illegal channels. Besides, Oliver knew that at this point Chloe and Lex wouldn't run away, they would want to stay and see Lionel and Lana defeated. Too much was at stake. He was responsible for his job and he had to do it perfectly, so one would get hurt. It wasn't just about Lionel Luthor, it was about all the criminals that were now 'helping' the government and, above all, it was for the safety of the country.

The only thing Oliver could do for now was to leave a trail, so it would lead Lex straight to Chloe, maybe even lure Lana, and then get rid of Lex's files in the secret branch. If Lana could do that for Chloe, Oliver could do it for Lex.

He thought his plan was perfect.

"One of her contacts sold her out. She'll be here tonight," Carter pointed the right location on the digital map. "You'll get there and take her out."

"Perfect." Lex smiled at that.

He'd been doing his best to prove to the agency that he was a good and trusted agent and now he finally got his reward. He would be the one to kill Raven.

"You know what? On second thoughts," Carter started again, "If possible bring her here for interrogation."

"Understood," Lex confirmed, but deep down he knew he would never do that.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I'm sick of it! Who does she think she is?!" Lana yelled to Lionel. "I can't let her screw everything up! Lex is still an agent and there's a chance their paths will cross!"

"Calm down, Lana," Lionel said in an exasperated voice. He was tired of her by now.

"You should've just let me kill him when I had the chance!"

"Lex turned his back on me. He wanted to put me in prison for the rest of my life. He didn't even care to show up at my funeral. You think a simple kill would satisfy me? Let him suffer a little bit longer."

"But he's screwing our plan!"

"So let's alter it," Lionel said, not discouraged at all. "Let them feel safe and then strike again. This way they'll suffer even more. It's only so much a person can take…"

"But…"

"Lana! We have to stay low for a while. Chloe impersonating you is a trap, can't you see that?! She's waiting for you to come to her, but she's also desperate because there's no other way to find you. I'll arrange a meeting for you in a while, I promise," Lionel said and sighed heavily.

He'd been really growing tired of Lana's moaning. It was high time he let her go and that meant she would be discarded of.

He'd always wanted to defile her when he'd known her in Smallville. She'd been the town sweetest and purest girl, but now he didn't know what that shell was anymore. It certainly wasn't Lana Lang. It was a product of the CIA's secret branch's training.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chloe was standing in the dark corner of the street, staging making a deal with a murderer.

She was getting sick of it. She'd been meeting all different criminals for a week now and she couldn't get any of them arrested. The CIA and Lana had to be sure Chloe was doing the wrong thing and not the other way around. Her only comfort was that her doings had given Oliver enough evidence to put those guys behind bars when this would all be over.

Lex slowly crept to that street with a gun ready in his hands.

He was only a few feet away from Lana. He would kill her in just a moment.

He could take a shot now, but he had to look into her eyes first. He had to make her realize that he had her and that she would die at his hand.

"Hello, Raven," Chloe heard his voice from behind and she stilled.

She's been waiting for that moment for so long now. She wanted to hear his voice, to look at him, to find herself in his arms, kiss him, make herself sure he really was alive, after all. She needed to touch him to prove to herself once and for all that Lana had lied to her.

And then she would never let him go ever again.

She stopped talking to the criminal she was doing business with and with her heart racing so fast that she thought it would just burst out of her chest, she slowly turned and in the same time she brought her hand to her head.

"Don't fucking move!" she heard Lex's curt command, but she couldn't listen. She needed him to see her blonde hair, so he wouldn't mistake her for Lana in the darkness.

Then she was finally standing in front of him, her hands took the wig off and the blonde curls spilled out of it.

Their eyes locked. Her green one with his blue-grey.

He froze.

They just looked at each other, not believing that the day they were reunited finally came.

Lex felt dizzy as he saw her standing there.

"Chloe?" he slowly asked.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 13

"Chloe?" he slowly asked.

She could just stand there, looking at him intensely, wanting to pinch herself to prove that it was real, that he was really there. He looked awful. He had dark circles under his eyes, eyes which were now so much dimmer, with no light left in them. He was tired and shattered.

"Lex…" her voice was broken and full of emotions like she was just about to cry.

In that very moment Lex suddenly raised his gun and aimed.

Chloe's eyes opened widely as she couldn't understand what was happening, as it was incomprehensible that he could try to shoot her.

She heard a gunshot and a second later a body falling to the ground behind her.

She turned around, her heart beating fast in her chest.

The man she was meeting there was dead, his gun right by his hand.

Of course, Lex just saved her life, but still, she could just stand there and look at that body.

Then she felt his hand on her arm.

"Chloe?" he repeated softly, still not believing. "Chloe…" his voice finally broke and she turned to looked into his eyes.

She could see clearly the disbelief and then the joy in them, the light was coming back.

"Lex…" she whispered, bringing her hand to his face and placing it on his cheek. "Lex…"

His shock wore off, so he was finally able to sweep her into his arms and lock her there safely.

A silent moan escaped her mouth as she found herself embraced by him. Her face was pressed against his neck.

"Chloe…" he could just keep repeating her name and stroking her hair. "I thought… I thought I lost you…" He took her face into his hands and pulled back a little to be able to look at her again.

Chloe was struck on seeing tears in his eyes. Lex Luthor, a man whose nerves were practically made from steel, just cried because she was alive.

She was there. She was there for no one else but him. She was alive. He truly wanted to drown in her eyes.

"Chloe…" he said one more time and then finally kissed her.

Lips met, tongues touched, his arms were around her again, bringing her closer, her hand was on his skull, caressing it just the way he liked.

None wanted to let go.

Then Chloe found herself out of breath, so she had to pull away for a moment.

Lex used that moment to say, "I'm really sick of people telling me you're dead."

Somehow it sounded funny and she burst out laughing. She seemed to be so full of different emotions that soon it would bring her to some kind of hysteria.

She put her hands back to his face, never wanting to let go of its smooth skin.

"It's all Lana's and your father fault. She tricked us both into thinking we were dead."

"Wait… so you…"

"I did at first, but then somebody gave me proof that you were ok… Come. Lex, we have to get out here!"

"You're right. It's not safe…"

She took his hand and pulled him towards the end of the street and into a van that was parked there.

"Wait…" Lex stilled for a moment. "Who are you working for? You couldn't do that all without any help." He pointed the driver behind the wheel.

"It's ok. It's… NSA."

"NSA?! What else did I miss?!"

"Get in!" she raised her voice in a commanding tone. "I refuse to lose you again, so just get in!"

Lex finally listened and followed her into the car.

"We're good," Chloe told the man behind the wheel. "Now…" She took something from the front seat and turned to Lex.

"What the hell is that?" Lex asked at the sight of some electrical device and a knife.

"I'm sorry, but you have a tracker inside of you. Every agent has one. I need to remove it before we get to my boss."

"Your boss? And who that would be?"

"Just stay still for a moment…" Chloe said instead of answering him and located the tracker in his right arm. "Take off your shirt."

Lex did as she said and then before she put the knife to his arm, her eyes trailed off to his chest.

"Chloe?" he asked in a slightly amused voice.

"I really missed you…" she just said, not able to hide the desire in her voice, "but we have to wait a little…" She forced herself to look at his arm again and a moment later the tracker was out.

Lex didn't make a sound, but from the look on his face she could tell that he was in pain.

"I'm sorry, honey," she said, threw the tracker out the window and then dressed his fresh wound. "We had no other choice. It had to be done quickly and we didn't have time…"

But then he shut her up by kissing her.

She forgot about the whole world and brought her body closer to him, imbuing herself with his presence, his touch. Every inch of her body wanted him desperately.

"Sorry to spoil the fun, but… could you get a room… like later?" they heard the driver asking.

Chloe wanted to giggle. She was acting like some horny teenager on the back seat, but they'd been apart for so long.

And not only apart since Lex had thought she'd been dead. Again.

It took all the willpower Lex had in him to stop kissing and touching her, but he didn't let her go from his arms, so she just stayed with her head on his shoulder.

"I like the hair. It's like back from the Smallville times," he noticed.

"That was my intention." She smiled at him.

"Tell me everything," he asked while playing with her fingers.

So she did. It was hard and painful for the both of them, especially when Lex told her what he'd been through.

"Wait…" he said, his voice growing hoarse when he reached to his pocket and a moment later he had Chloe's engagement ring in his hand.

"Oh… Oh, my… Lex…" Chloe looked at the ring, then at his face and back at the ring again. Her eyes were glassy. "Lex… I… You had it that whole time? How come they didn't take it from you?"

"I hid it well. In fact, it was the only thing that kept me sane," he confessed, "and later… when they wanted me to forget… it was the constant reminder that you existed, that you were out there, waiting for me."

"That is the sweetest thing I've ever heard," she admitted, now crying.

"Oh, stop that, please," Lex said when bringing his other hand to her cheek and wiping off her tears. "I've had enough of crying like for one lifetime."

She laughed, thankful for that small joke.

"I love you so much," she said to him and kissed him again.

"I love you, too." He kissed her back and then, when they parted on remembering the driver, Lex asked, "May I? If you still…"

"I've already said 'yes' and that answer will never change," she assured him.

He slid the ring on her finger then, realizing that there they were, months after their engagement, finally together.

"Forever," he added.

"Forever," Chloe agreed.

For the rest of the road she remained in his arms and he kept watching her face like he still couldn't believe she was alive and he was that lucky to get her back the second time.

Then the car finally stopped.

"Chloe," Lex said before they got out of the car, "promise me we'll finally be free. We have to run away, start a new life."

"We will, Lex, but just not today. Don't you want to stop running for a change? Don't you want to get your company back?"

"That company means nothing to me when compared to you. Besides, I've already given up on it once."

"Lex," she cupped his face, "your father and Lana will never stop unless we put an end to it. Don't worry, we will never be parted again. We have enough people to bring them down and then… just think about it… we will finally be truly free. I was promised by my boss. Free of agencies, free of hiding and running. You will have your old life back and so will I. And we will be together."

"It sounds too good to be true," he admitted.

"We deserve it after everything we've been through," Chloe finished and then got out of the car.

The residence's door opened and Oliver Queen walked out to greet them.

"It's so good to finally meet you, Lex," he said with a smile as he came closer and reached his hand to him. "Oliver Queen."

"Lex Luthor," Lex said, being a little unsure and then he looked suspiciously at Chloe.

"Everything went smoothly?" Oliver asked her and then gave her a hug.

"Yes, Ollie. It went great… Well, my contact is dead. Lex killed him before he managed to shoot me."

"Don't worry about it. He was a scumbag, after all, right?" Oliver winked at her.

Then Chloe looked at Lex again and suddenly burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Lex asked, bewildered.

"I wish you could see all the jealously painted on your face right now, Mr. Luthor," Chloe teased him and then took his hand. "You see this?" She raised them up, pointing her ring. "You are the one true love in my life, Lex. No one but you. Oliver is just a good friend. If it hadn't been for him then I… we would've been both dead by now or something, but certainly we wouldn't have even had a chance for our happy ending."

"It's ok. She's like a sister to me," Oliver confirmed. "A very beautiful one, true, but I wouldn't try anything when knowing how much she loves you. If we have some time, I'll tell you all about that time you were gone. She's been terrible."

"Not worse than he was," Chloe told Oliver while stroking Lex's hand with her fingers. "He thought I was dead."

"Ok, then I guess I can let you two go for now," Ollie said. "There's a room prepared for you upstairs at the very end of the corridor. No one should bother you there."

"Thank you." Chloe smiled. "If anything new comes up, tell us!"

"Of course, but I think I'll just call you on your cell." Oliver winked again. "I don't wanna walk in on anything… or interrupt something."

"Ollie!" Chloe scolded him, but she was just too happy to really get angry with him.

A couple of minutes later she entered the room with Lex and as soon as she closed the door, Lex swirled her around, pushing against it and devouring her lips in a fiery kiss.

"Mmmm…." she moaned into his mouth and brought him closer, grazing her body against his.

"God, it's a dream," Lex whispered in between the kisses. "It feels like I'm dreaming and I'm going to wake up soon," he groaned and started placing kisses on her neck and cleavage.

"So let's not…" Chloe answered and a moment later she brought her hand to his crotch and cupped him. He was already hard for her. "Does this feel like a dream to you?"

"Noo…" he groaned again. "It's as real as it can be." He ran his hands along her body, squeezing her breasts through her clothes and massaging her peaked nipples.

"Ah... Lex… please..." Chloe moaned and then she felt him ripping off the redundant fabric on her skin. She stripped him off his shirt and then he brought his face down to her breast and sucked hard while still massaging the other one.

"Oh, God! Bed! NOW!" she screamed.

He lifted her from the ground and she put her legs around his waist as he started off towards the bed.

None of them looked around, they were only interested in each other, not in the room.

Chloe was soon lying naked on the bed while Lex seemed to be everywhere. His hands touching her in every place at once, his fingers sliding into her, then being replaced by his tongue.

"Lex… Lex… let me…" she kept moaning and wriggling on the bed as she tried to reach his pants and succumb to the pleasure he was giving her in the same time.

Then he groaned, couldn't stand the tightness in his pants anymore and let go of her.

She was finally able to think a little clearer and a moment later he was completely naked as well.

She looked at his painfully erected cock, even bigger than she remembered. She needed him so much.

She bent down and after few gentle strokes with her hand, she took him into her mouth.

"Chloe…" Lex groaned again, doing everything he could to restrain himself. "I want to come… inside of you…" he finally uttered.

She stopped and they lay together, Lex hovering above her.

"Do it. I'm dying for you here," she encouraged him.

He captured her lips again, settling himself between her legs as she parted them and then raised to place around his waist.

"Deep… as deep as you can get," she whispered into his ear with a voice full of desire.

"God, I'm in heaven," he said and slid himself home.

They both moaned loudly and Lex stilled as her inner channel clang to him.

"A moment…" he took a deep breath.

"Sure." She laughed and caressed his face, then brought him down for another deep kiss. "I love you so much."

"I love you, too. You have no idea… and I missed you…"

"I missed you, too."

He moved, pulled away and then pushed back in, making causing her to open her mouth in pleasure.

"And I thought I would never be in this position again," he said, looking at her and devouring the sight of her lying naked beneath him, being his, taking him in.

She tightened her legs around his waist, her heels pressing into his butt, causing him to sink even deeper.

He found some support when he folded his knees, so he could crouch on the bed and bring her body even closer to his.

"Ah! Yes!" Chloe screamed. "Yeah! Just like that!"

They were so hungry for each other that they just started fucking hard, their bodies slamming together, covered in perspiration.

And then Lex slammed into her one last time, which caused her to come powerfully.

He felt her channel squeezing around him rhythmically and he couldn't hold on anymore. He came as well and he came hard.

"God, that was… I have no words for that…" Chloe said in a tired voice when he collapsed right into her arms. They were lying like that a while, just being together, their bodies entwined.

They needed to be joined, to keep feeling each other, to keep making themselves sure – especially Lex – that it was real, that it was really happening.

Then Chloe started stroking his head.

"Chloe…" Lex said straight to her ear. "You have no idea what it did to me knowing that you… that you were dead… twice… It broke me… I was so close to just ending it…"

"What do you mean?" Chloe asked and he pulled away a little to look at her, but still wouldn't let go.

"It was too much. Nothing in my life had sense anymore, again. It was always only you and where you were gone…"

"But you're here. You didn't hurt yourself," she said, terrified of what might've happened. "And you know how stupid that thinking was? You wanted to end up like those pathetic couple Romeo and Juliet?!"

"Pathetic?" Lex cocked an eyebrow at her in sudden amusement.

"Well, who does something like that?! Yeah, they were pathetic. They should've made sure the other was really dead first instead of acting on impulse because, hey, it would be just so fucking romantic to kill yourself!"

"Guess we were lucky."

"Why didn't you hurt yourself?" she repeated the question.

"Because of revenge. I wanted my father to suffer for what he did to you and your father. I wanted Lana to suffer."

"I can understand that and you know what? We will. They will pay for what they've done to us."

They started kissing again.

"Oh… what's that?" Chloe asked Lex with mischievous sparks in her eyes. She could feel him getting hard inside of her again.

"It was a very long time," Lex just said with a smile.

"Yeah… yeah… just make love to me already…"

So they did. This time they took it slowly, enjoying themselves. The first more primal need was satisfied, now they could make love.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 14

Chloe gasped loudly when straddling Lex.

They'd just woken up and immediately started making love to each other as to remind themselves that it wasn't a dream, it was reality.

"Oh, God…" Chloe finally came and collapsed straight into Lex's arms.

"Yeah…" he confirmed while holding her tightly, not willing to let her go, still being inside of her though he'd just come himself as well. "Let's not move from this bed for the rest of our lives."

"Tempting, but eventually we're gonna have to."

"Spoilsport," Lex muttered. "Remind me something," he then asked, so she pulled away to look at his face. "Is Lana really in love with you? Or was that just a weird dream I had?"

"Yeah, she pretty much is," Chloe said in an exasperated voice and rolled to the side when laying on her back.

"I just can't comprehend the level of her… stupidity," Lex replied. "She's either crazy or stupid. There's no other explanation."

"You know, you're looking at this like this just because she's gay," Chloe noticed. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying what she'd done is right, I just… If Lana was a guy, then it wouldn't be so shocking, would it?"

"Hmm… There was a couple of bastards in history that separated lovers just because they were rejected by one of them," Lex admitted.

"You see?"

"Still, it's not the Lana I knew."

"Yeah," Chloe agreed. "I wish I could get her back, but it's just impossible. I keep wondering when was the moment she changed so much, but I can't figure it out."

"I guess it was the training. Lana wasn't as strong as you and I were," Lex said and while supporting his head on his hand, he turned to face Chloe. "We were always unusually strong, and when not made from the same material, we're still so alike. Lana… she just snapped, couldn't handle the evil of this world anymore."

"Well said. You and I kept seeing it from our early years," Chloe followed quickly. "I as a reporter and you as Lionel's child."

"Lana did lose her parents, true," Lex continued, "but she was raised by her aunt who loved her very much and for her the world was a pretty beautiful place. Then the darkness swallowed her so fast that she couldn't fight it."

"Very insightful," Chloe said. "And losing her partners was, of course, a tragedy, but she was so young that it wasn't as hard as it would be on her if she was a teenager when they died."

"Exactly."

They lay in silence for a while, thinking it all over and then Chloe hissed, "I'm so sore I can barely move!"

"Well, I didn't pressure you into sex this morning," Lex chuckled. "It was all your doing."

"You had a morning erection!"

"Yeah, but men usually do."

Chloe rolled her eyes at that.

"I mean that when you're hard I can't help myself, I have to have you. We've been denied this for so long…" She leaned towards him and placed another soft kiss on his mouth.

They kissed leisurely for a moment.

"We have to take a shower." Chloe finally broke the kiss. "I feel all sticky and sweaty."

"Ok, let's go then."

But none of them moved.

They looked at other and started laughing.

"Ok, there's probably a breakfast waiting for us downstairs," Chloe said, "and I'm hungry, so if that's not a good enough reason to get up, go wash ourselves and get down… I don't know what is."

Eventually, Lex was the one who get up first and then he dragged Chloe out of bed. Her laughter was music to his ears.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"One of my contacts informed me of Lana's incoming mission," Oliver told them after breakfast. "It's tonight if you're up to it."

"Of course we are!" Chloe agreed immediately. "We want this to end as soon as possible."

"Still, you have to remember to be careful, Chloe," Oliver warned her. "It would be a shame to go down just at the end."

"Understood! I'm fine! Lex is fine, too!"

Lex nodded when Ollie looked at him.

"Ok, then… and I'll go as well. We need her. She's the only one right now that can get us the ultimate proof that she's working for Lionel."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When they got to the abandoned warehouse where Lana was supposed to meet Lionel's contact, they heard a gunshot.

"We're going in!" Oliver game a command and got through the back door while Chloe and Lex took the front.

He was lucky because that was exactly where Lana was - at the back.

Oliver frowned as he noticed that she just killed her contact. Why would she do that?

And then he understood.

It was a trap.

Before he could fire first, Lana reacted in a flash. She could feel him creeping behind her and she knew they would want her alive.

So she turned quickly and fired, then she was immediately distracted by Chloe's scream.

"Ollie!" it was coming from the front of the big hall. "NOOOO!"

Lana quickly hid herself behind a pillar. She had the advantage of knowing that place much better than Chloe did.

"Son of a…" she cursed on seeing Lex. "Screw Lionel," she said to herself with clear intention of killing Lex instead of bringing him to his father as she was ordered to.

She stepped out of the darkened part of the hall and aimed at Lex's head.

"Don't fucking move!" she commanded and Lex stilled.

"No! Lana!" she could hear Chloe's panicked scream, which only caused her to smile.

"Looks like I'm the one who won, Chloe!" Lana said with satisfaction.

"I won't let you kill him!"

Chloe got to them fast and covered Lex with her own body. She couldn't lose him, too, she'd already lost Oliver. She pushed those thoughts to the back of her head. She had to be focused now, to play it right.

"Get out of the way!" Lana raised her voice, but she already realized her mistake. She should've shot Lex immediately instead of waiting for Chloe to see it. "Fuck," Lana cursed when her hands trembled. She couldn't kill the blonde.

And could see a smile of satisfaction on her face right now.

"Exactly," Chloe said with a nod. "You can't kill me. You love me, don't you, Lana?"

"Chloe…" Lex started, trying to push her out of the way, so she wouldn't be in danger anymore.

"No, Lex, it's ok," she assured him. "Come on, Lana. Kill me," she challenged the brunette.

"Chloe, please…" Lana asked. "I just…"

"You what?" Chloe parroted. "Didn't mean to? You're sorry? You just killed my dear friend, Lana. That's right. That blond man over there was my friend. A better friend that you ever were."

"Don't!" Lana's hands trembled over the gun again. "Just don't…"

"You did this to yourself. You could've had a new life, Lana. All you had to do was to choose the witness protection program, but you didn't. Why can't you just let it go? Let go of the past. Can't you see how much you've changed? How much the past has affected your present? How it destroyed you?"

"Look who's talking," Lana pointed out.

"It's not the same. I let Lex go, but fate somehow brought him back to me. Lana, please…"

"No," Lana suddenly said and straightened up. "NO," she repeated. "You only hurt me, Chloe. Screw you!" And she held the gun straight with clear intention of pulling the trigger and killing both Chloe and Lex.

The shot went out.

Lex screamed.

But it wasn't Chloe who fell to the ground.

It was Lana. With a bullet hole in her head.

Chloe was still standing, covering Lex with her own body, a gun in her hand. The gun she'd quickly reached for when she'd realized what Lana had been about to do.

Memories of long gone happy times in Smallville appeared before her eyes.

Lana smiling. Lana so excited about the big opening of the Talon. Lana who'd called her sister. Lana who'd become her family once. That nice, good-hearted girl. Smallville's star. Every young girl's role model.

Now Lana was lying dead on the ground. Her heart long consumed with hatred and revenge. Just a shell of that girl Chloe had used to know.

"Chloe," Lex put his hand on her shoulder. "Chloe, are you ok?"

She was silent for a moment and then she finally looked away from the body.

"God, Ollie!" she yelled and wanted to get to her friend, but she was stopped.

Lana wasn't the only one there. Suddenly, there was more people.

Guns were immediately aimed at Chloe and Lex and there was no chance they would come out of that fight alive. They had to surrender in order to survive and even that might not last long. They knew it.

They just looked at each other, silently saying that they loved each other.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They were taken to a van and brought to some building on the outskirts of town.

"Where the hell are you taking us?!" Chloe demanded an answer as she squirmed in her seat, her hands tied up.

"Shut up!" One of the man hit her, which caused Lex to jump, but he was tied up as well, so he couldn't do anything. There was no way out.

They were taken inside the building and then through the long corridor and finally to the door at the end of it.

It opened and the men pushed them inside and closed the door right back, leaving Chloe and Lex tied up and alone in there.

"I don't und…" Chloe started, but then she felt somebody else's presence.

"Hello, son." Lionel came into view, facing the couple. "It's been a long time."

"Could've been longer," Lex answered back.

"Oh, with the attitude." Lionel smacked his lips in amusement. "You can't fight me here, you can't escape, you're both trapped. I won like I always do."

"So Lana was just a pawn in your game?" Chloe asked while struggling with the rope on her wrists.

"Stop that, dear, you won't break free and even if, I'll kill you anyway," said Lionel and pointed his gun at her.

"Don't even try it!" Lex screamed immediately.

"Oh, after so many years you're still so much in love with that girl," Lionel chuckled. "How boring, my son."

"At least I don't jump from one woman to another as you keep doing!"

"And as you were doing in the past," Lionel noticed. "And to answer your question, Chloe, yes, Lana was just a pawn. At first it was funny to play with her, to get to know her from the inside, if you know what I mean, but then… she started annoying me, so I arranged a little reunion. It all worked our perfectly. She's dead and you're here."

"You son of a bitch!" Chloe cursed him. "How dare you?! This is your son!" She looked at Lex.

"He stopped being my son the moment he decided to sell me off and put in prison!"

"You deserved it," Lex told him. "I'd do it again in a heartbeat!"

"Oh, you won't, my son, because you will be dead soon, but first… you will watch me killing your beloved one," Lionel informed.

"Try it and I swear to God…" Lex started while struggling with the rope.

"You can call him, but God will never hear you, son."

"Dad, no!" Lex made a step towards him, but Lionel unlocked the safety switch on his gun while still pointing it at Chloe. "One more step and I will kill her right now!"

Lex jerked to a sudden stop. He didn't know what to do. They were trapped. There was no way out of this.

"Lex…" Chloe said softly. "Lex, I love you."

"I love you, too," he said it back with tears in his eyes. "I will never... NO!" he roared as Lionel made another move with clear intention of shooting Chloe.

In that very moment the door burst open and a shot went out.

The bullet hit Lionel's heart and his body was thrown back, the gun he was holding fell to the ground.

Lex and Chloe could just stare at the body falling like in a slow motion.

It was so surreal. Suddenly, Lionel was killed. He was no more. They were free.

They looked at each other with terror still evident in their eyes and then they turned to the door.

There was a blonde woman standing there, still smoking gun in her hand. She was wearing an oxygen mask.

They could smell the gas coming through the door, so they knew what happened.

The woman took the mask off, shook her head to pull he hair back and she winked at them.

"Oliver says hi," she just told them, which made them look at her with astonishment.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Oliver!" Chloe ran through the door to his hospital room. "Ollie, you're ok!" she sighed with relief. "I'm so glad you're ok!"

He was sitting on the bed with his arm in a sling.

"You were shot in the arm?" Chloe asked after she hugged him and let go immediately because he hissed in pain.

"Yeah, bitch surprised me."

"But you-you were just lying there…" Chloe started, clearly bewildered.

In that very moment Lex came through the door.

"Oliver," he nodded. "I'm glad you're ok."

"And I'm glad you two are, but don't worry. You weren't really in any danger."

"What do you mean? Answer me!" Chloe prompted, exasperated on being left in the dark for so long.

"Sorry, Chloe, I just… I didn't tell you the whole plan. My being shot by that bitch, well, that wasn't a part of it, but the backup was there all the time. They wouldn't let Lana shoot any of you, they had it under control. Still, it was better you two didn't know. You didn't have the false sense of being safe that way."

"You had it under control?!" Lex suddenly burst. "My fiancée almost died trying to protect me and you're telling me…"

"Lex," Chloe turned to him, "let him speak."

"They let Lionel's team take you because you had to lead us to him."

"So, what happens now?" Chloe asked as the truth still hadn't dawned on her.

"Are you kidding me, Chloe? Really? What happens now? You're both free!" Oliver smiled at her and Lex. "You've done your job and I promised you your freedom back. This is me keeping that promise."

Chloe could just stare at him in some kind of strange awe. She knew that day would eventually come, but she didn't know it would happen so fast and so unexpectedly.

The next thing she knew was Lex's arms around her.

"I will never have to lose you again," he whispered into her ear, hugging her tight.

"Lex, you didn't…"

"Almost," he said while still holding her. "First Lana, then my father… I would never be able to live with something like that if..."

"She was safe the whole time," Oliver repeated.

"Well, you should've told me that!" Lex screamed at him again.

"Lex, he's been shot. Just leave him alone."

"But…"

"We're together now and we're free. That's all that matters," Chloe said and cupped his face. "Forever, remember?"

Lex just smiled to her like he still couldn't believe it either.

"Knock, knock," they heard a female voice coming from the door.

They turned into that direction and saw the blonde who rescued them.

"Dinah, right?" Chloe asked and the woman nodded. "Thank you for saving us."

"It was my pleasure."

"Yeah, you just popped in, in the last moment and killed the snake!" Oliver said, pretty annoyed. "I should've been the one to take that bastard out!"

"With that arm?" Dinah raised her eyebrows at him teasingly. "You should've been more careful."

"Are you trying to tell me I'm not a good agent?"

"Well, you could've been better…"

"Come on." Chloe took Lex's hand and they left Oliver with Dinah alone.

"I don't know about you, but I see sparks flying in there," Lex said and pointed the room they'd just left.

Chloe only smiled in response.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Epilogue

The door to the mansion opened and Lex let Chloe in.

"After you."

They crossed the threshold and looked around.

No one had lived there since Lex had moved back to Metropolis years ago, so now it was just an empty castle, but they could renovate it.

"It's just like I remember." Chloe sighed when memories started coming back to her. "And this is the room where you opened up to me," she said on coming into the study.

"Well, you were affected by LuthorCorp's truth serum," the answer came.

Chloe laughed at that.

"But I was the one you confessed that to anyway."

"And this is the place when I first thought of you as something more than just a friend," he admitted while standing behind her and putting his arms around her.

"Me, too," Chloe admitted when leaning into him.

When they'd officially gotten their freedom back, they'd decided it would be good to come back to Smallville, to the place where it'd all started, where they'd fallen in love, where they'd been the happiest.

"You're ok?" Lex asked after a moment of silence.

"Yeah," Chloe answered in a slightly hoarse voice. "I'm good. It's just… there's so many memories… When I was leaving this place eleven years ago, I thought I would never be able to come back here and now… here… here we are…" Tears came to her eyes as she couldn't fight them anymore.

"Hey, hey…" Lex turned her around and put his hands on her face. "We can always settle somewhere else if this is too painful for you."

"You're so sweet." She smiled through her tears. "But it's not a bad feeling. I do want to live here, I just… I have so many good memories… It's nostalgic…"

"I understand," he assured her and kissed her softly on the mouth, then embraced her again.

She snuggled her face into the crook of his neck, breathing in, feeling Lex's scent and feeling right, feeling free and happy for the first time since eleven years ago.

"We have to finally get married," Lex said.

"Oh, yes. I can't wait."

"Would you like to invite somebody?" he asked, pulling away and taking her hand to lead her to other rooms.

"No one beside Oliver and Dinah," Chloe sighed. "I guess we should start making some new friends, too."

Oliver and Dinah were very interested in each other and they had a real shot in being together since they'd both been promoted. They were still working for the NSA, but where out of active duty. Chloe couldn't be happier for them both. Life as a field agent wasn't safe, especially when Oliver's job was to infiltrate drug dealers' environment.

"Maybe I should find… Clark," Chloe then said.

"Clark?" Lex was surprised. "You know that may not be such a bad idea. I would really like to see the look on his face once he finds out you're actually alive."

"Yeah… or maybe I shouldn't… it was such a long ago. We drifted apart."

"It's the same about my friendship with him. When you 'died', I just moved back to Metropolis and ignored anyone I knew from Smallville. It was too painful."

"We'll see where the future gets us."

"Oh, yes, we will and for the first time I'm looking forward to it with a smile on my face."

"Should we start a family?" Chloe suddenly blurted out and Lex stopped in the middle of the stairs they were currently climbing.

"Yes," he finally said with joy in his eyes. "We really should. I would want that very much, Chloe."

"We'll get married soon, so maybe we should start trying right away," she suggested with sparks in her eyes. "Where's your master bedroom? Do you think we may find a decent and clean bed in there?"

"All furniture's safely covered, so I say we christen our coming back to Smallville," he said and led her to the bedroom.

THE END


End file.
